The Rise of the Challengers: VCT Pacific League Week 2 Recap
The second week of VCT Pacific concluded yesterday. The second week featured some of the best games of the season. We saw teams improving tremendously. In just one week, previously weaker teams appeared to be much stronger and going into the third week, they will try to be the best version of themselves. After the first week, four teams take a clear lead. Let's take a look at the week's action.
VCT Pacific Week 2 Recap:
Match 1 - ZETA Division 2-1 RRQ:
Both Zeta and RRQ could not close their first match-up. Zeta faced DRX in the first game, and RRQ faced GenG, both championship-level teams. Going into the match, Zeta won the coin flip, starting the game on Haven.
RRQ's defence shut down all of Zeta's attacks. Zeta could not close a single round in the first nine rounds. A clutch from Tennn helped them secure their first round, and they closed the first half 3-9. Zeta's defence started strong in the second half, winning six out of the first seven rounds, but the six-round lead helped RRQ win Zeta's map pick 13-10.
Zeta won the first four attack rounds on the opponent's map pick. The momentum seemed to favour Zeta but RRQ adjusted to Zeta's offence and secured six rounds to close the half with six-a-piece.
On defence, RRQ started strong but could not penetrate RRQ's defence enough. They had a hard time taking control of the map. Zeta closed the game with defence, forcing a third map.
On Lotus, RRQ's defence did not work as intended and saw struggles despite a strong start. On the back of the strong attack, Zeta won seven rounds in the first half. RRQ's attack did not find the same success, and they did not win a single round on offence.
Zeta's defence again helped them secure a strong 13-5 win over RRQ, giving them their first win of the series.
Match 2 - Talon 0-2 T1:
Talon faced Secret in the first game and was defeated. T1 won thier first game and displayed some amazing Valorant once again, going 1-0 up in the league.
Starting on Ascent, T1 secured a strong 8-4 half on the back of their strong offence. The Talon's experimental defence looked weaker and could not hold T1. T1's role switch seemed to be working. With a strong attack half, T1 converted the game on defence, winning five required rounds after dropping just four.
On Haven, Talon once again struggled to hold on to the sites. The Sayaplayer and Xeta-led attack was hard for Talon's defence. Talon only managed to scrap together three rounds in the end to close the half.
The second half started slow for Talon, and T1 extended the lead to nine rounds. Talon answered back with three rounds but lost the game 13-6.
With the win, T1 go 2-0 up in the league, While Talon is now two games down and will have to win the rest of the games to secure playoffs.
Match 3 - Team Secret 2-1 Paper Rex:
This was a revenge match for Team Secret; Paper Rex has always come out on top against Team Secret. Team Secret has been on an amazing run and has defeated some strong teams coming into the season.
Both teams won their opening duels and now face each other. Starting on Haven, picked by Team Secret, Paper Rex brought a composition with Yoru.
The Yoru composition did not work as intended, and the team struggled to find a footing in the offensive half. But Paper Rex's firepower prevailed as they won five rounds in a row, closing the half in a 6-6 half.
Team Secret struggled at attacking as the hard rush repeatedly failed, giving Paper Rex a close 13-11 win over them.
On Fracture, Team Secret once again shut down the Paper Rex attack well, and it helped them secure a strong 8-4 half.
Paper Rex reduced the lead to two rounds in the second half. 15th round, the round exchange started with Team Secret securing map point in the 21st round, but Paper Rex held on, only to lose the last round.
Team Secret, with the round win, forced the final map. In the post-match interview, Alecks and D4v41 suggested the team's aggression was not as much leading to the map loss.
Split the decider, started with TS again leading on defence, but Paper Rex securing the lead towards the end. At the end of the first half, TS lagged by two rounds.
Team Secret quickly closed down the lead in the second half and secured a strong lead for themselves. The momentum helped them close the map 13-10, winning the series 2-1.
With the win, Team Secret has defeated Paper Rex and Xerxia, who they struggled against in the past, conquering their past monsters.
Match 4 - GenG 2-1 Detonation FocusMe:
Starting on defence, DFM started strong, repelling all the attack attempts against GenG. GenG somehow found ways to secure five rounds toward the end of the half.
On attack, DFM had difficulty finding openings in the GenG defence. GenG's defence helped them secure eight out of the nine rounds played in defence. GenG, with the win, went 1-0 up in the series.
GenG's defence struggled to hold on to the DFM attack, and DFM bullied their way through winning fracture in a one-sided 13-4.
Pearl started with GenG's defence struggling once again. Despite the strong individual talent, GenG could only secure five defensive rounds. On the contrary, GenG's attack shone again, and they secured seven rounds in a row to win the series.
GenG is now 2-0 up and will face Team Secret in the next match-up. DFM look much better now and will continue to improve going forward.
Match 5 - Global Esports 0-2 DRX:
The final match of Week 2 of the VCT Pacific League stage closed the second week. Going into the match-up, DRX was supposed to be run over Global Esports, but the expectations were shattered as soon as the match started. Haven from DRX started with Global Esports starting strong. DRX answered back strongly, but GES scrapped five rounds to close the first half. During the first half, GES did not let DRX get comfortable.
On the attack, GES led the score by one after the first five rounds. But the DRX attack came out strong, especially the individuality shone, and it helped DRX close out the first map 13-11.
Split saw DRX's defence struggle against the GES attack. But DRX recovered towards the end, equalizing the half 6-6. DRX's attack after losing the first two rounds secured six rounds out of the next eight, reaching map point. But GES forced through, winning the last two to force overtime.
In overtime, both teams kept closing the defence rounds, and in the end, DRX secured a defence and attacked the round to win the game 17-15. DRX rightfully sit on the top of the scoreboard. GES are 0-2 down but have ample opportunity to close the season on a good note.
After two weeks of action, the VCT Pacific League scoreboard looks as follows: Despite the losses, there seem to be no pushover teams in VCT Pacific in just two weeks. Every team has a fighting chance. While there are strong teams but with other teams' pace, there will soon be a struggle for first place in VCT.
The week 3 action will resume on April 8th. Follow VCT Pacific's Twitter for all the updates regarding VCT Pacific.
Credits: Riot Games // VCT Pacific
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