VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 Opening Matchups Revealed
The 2026 VCT Pacific Kickoff bracket is shaping up to be a really interesting one.
SOUTH KOREA – Riot Games has unveiled the first-round matchups for VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026, marking the circuit’s first-ever use of a triple-elimination bracket.
The tournament will run from January 22 to February 15, and it starts with a clear advantage for the region’s proven international performers. The four teams that qualified for VALORANT Champions Paris 2025 have been awarded a first-round bye in the Upper Bracket, meaning they will enter the competition one step later while the rest of the field battles through the opening round. All remaining teams were placed into the bracket via random draw.
The top three finishers will qualify for Masters Santiago, the year’s first international event.
The full schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but matches will follow a consistent start time each matchday: 15:00 GMT+7 (Jakarta) // 16:00 GMT+8 // 17:00 GMT+9.
Nongshim RedForce’s climb back into tier one sets up a high-pressure opener against a revamped Team Secret lineup that includes Ko “Sylvan” Young-sub. The winner will move on to face T1 in the next round, meaning Sylvan could run into his former team immediately if Secret get past Nongshim.
FULL SENSE will begin their tier-one journey by fielding the all-Thai TALON roster in their debut match, drawing ZETA DIVISION with DRX waiting in the following round for whoever advances. With some history between the teams, the former TALON squad, now without head coach Hector “FrosT” Rosario, could find themselves facing DRX again as early as round two.
Now competing under the VARREL banner after the SLT Seongnam transition, the team opens against Global Esports. The path only gets steeper from there, with Paper Rex lined up next for the winner. If you’re here for pure mechanics, some are already eyeing this as a potential hands-diff kind of matchup, assuming VARREL make it through.
Finally, it’s a classic uphill test for DetonatioN FocusMe, who start against Gen.G. If they advance, they’ll run into RRQ in the next round, setting up yet another possible RRQ vs Gen.G clash right at the start of the year, after the two sides have crossed paths countless times over the past two seasons.
The VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 bracket is as follows:
- Nongshim RedForce vs. Team Secret
- T1 vs. NS/TS
- ZETA DIVISION vs. FULL SENSE (previously TALON)
- DRX vs. ZETA/FS
- VARREL (previously SLT Seongnam) vs. Global Esports
- Paper Rex vs. VL/GE
- DetonatioN FocusMe vs. Gen.G
- RRQ vs. DFM/GEN
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT Pacific