DRX and T1 have officially booked their tickets to VALORANT Masters Bangkok after advancing to the grand finals of the VCT Pacific Kickoff.
SOUTH KOREA – The two Korean squads in DRX and T1 will represent the Pacific region at the upcoming international event, joining teams like reigning world champions EDward Gaming (China), Sentinels (Americas), Team Vitality (EMEA), and more in Bangkok from February 20 to March 2.
DRX were the first Pacific team to qualify, pulling off a reverse sweep against T1 in the upper bracket final with a 2-1 (Lotus 11-13, Haven 15-13, Fracture 13-10) victory. Cho “Flashback” Min-hyuk’s back-to-back 1v2 clutches on Haven and Fracture helped to seal the win, giving them a strong start to the season after missing out on the first Masters last year in Madrid. While DRX had a shaky opener against Nongshim RedForce, they found their rhythm with a clean 2-0 win over Gen.G in the following round.
Under the leadership of coach Seon-ho “termi” Pyeon, the coaching staff has repeatedly shown that DRX still carry the Vision Strikers DNA. Despite frequent roster changes and the introduction of fresh talent, DRX have continuously proven their ability to qualify and remain a force to be reckoned with, staying true to their historic core.
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For T1, the road to Bangkok was anything but smooth. Dubbed Korea’s new superteam, they battled through full three-map series against Paper Rex, TALON, and DRX, with the latter ending in defeat. However, they secured their qualification by denying Gen.G’s comeback in the best-of-five lower bracket final 3-2 (Pearl 13-8, Lotus 13-8, Haven 5-13, Split 17-15, Bind 13-10). The decision to start Lee “carpe” Jae-hyeok over Ko “Sylvan” Young-sub paid off, despite carpe only playing his first match since July 2024 a day prior in the loss to DRX.
The best Pacific team from last year, Gen.G, now featuring Jung “Foxy9” Jae-sung and Chae “yoman” Young-mun, will miss out on the event despite an impressive OFF//SEASON run that included victories at the TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational and Gwangju Esports Series Asia, along with a runners-up finish at SOOP VALORANT League.
The VCT Pacific Kickoff wraps up on Sunday with the grand finals between DRX and T1 to determine seeding for the Swiss Stage at Masters Bangkok.
One of the biggest shocks of the tournament came early, as Paper Rex suffered a surprising 7-8th place exit at the hands of DetonatioN FocusMe. This marks the end of the longest international appearance streak in VCT history, dating back to Champions 2021. On top of that, for the first time in VALORANT history, no Southeast Asian team will be competing at an international event—an ironic first, given that the next Masters is being held in Southeast Asia for the first time.
The draw for the opening matchups at VALORANT Masters Bangkok will take place immediately after the VCT EMEA Grand Finals, which will be broadcast live from Berlin. The EMEA Kickoff grand finals are set for Monday at 1 AM GMT+8 (SGT).
The team list for VALORANT Masters Bangkok, taking place from February 20 to March 2 in Bangkok, Thailand, currently looks as follows:
- G2 Esports (Americas)
- Sentinels (Americas)
- EDward Gaming (CN)
- Trace Esports (CN)
- Team Vitality (EMEA)
- DRX (Pacific)
- T1 (Pacific)
- Team Heretics/Team Liquid (EMEA)
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT Pacific
