After five weeks of league play, the top eight teams are locked in to compete for a chance to play at VALORANT Masters Toronto.
SOUTH KOREA — The top eight teams headed to the VCT Pacific Stage 1 Playoffs to compete for a chance at three slots in Toronto have been decided. After five weeks of play, however, the final seeding has also been completed, with the bracket locked in. The qualifying teams, in order, for the playoffs are as follows:
Group Alpha:
#1 BOOM Esports
Qualified as the first seed with a flawless 5-0 record, the only team to do so this playoffs in VCT Pacific Stage 1. They found 2-0 wins in three of their five games and will begin their journey in the upper bracket semifinals, leaving them only one victorious playoff game away from Masters Toronto. The entire squad has been having individual impact throughout the stage, with consistent numbers and victories for the most part. Their first game will be against the winners of the playoffs’ opener between TALON and Gen. G.
#2 DRX
The winners of the Pacific Kickoff continued to show off their form, ending the stage with a 4-1 record. The team appeared to have evolved from Kickoff/Masters Bangkok in terms of agent compositions, with No “free1ng” Ha-jun in particular going from a sole Tejo mastermind to also showcasing his skills on three more agents. DRX, as the higher-seeded team, will face off against T1, the #3 team from the opposite group.
#3 Gen G
Their opening match was against BOOM, which ended in a 2-0, but Gen. G bounced back over the course of the next three games, winning all three, which qualified them for playoffs and kept them out of the lower bracket, ending the stage as seed three with a 3-2 record. Ha “Ash” Hyun-cheol stepped up from the Gen.G Global Academy roster into the flex initiator role this stage for the Korean squad, and he, along with his team, will have a chance to make their first international event in 2025. Gen. G’s first game is against TALON.
#4 Paper Rex
A team that has, to date, not missed out on any of the Pacific Playoffs came very close to it this time around, with qualification coming down to the penultimate day of Stage 1. The team opted to, like Gen. G, call up their rookie to bat, with Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza playing instead of Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart from week three. By winning their last two games against DFM and GE, PRX locked in the last playoff spot, but like their Omega counterparts, they will start in the lower bracket – they will have to win their next three games to qualify for VALORANT Masters Toronto – any loss before then and they are out.
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Group Omega:
#1 RRQ
Another Indonesian squad at the head of the leaderboard, Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) ended the season with a 3-2 record, with their second loss not having any impact on their standing at the top. The squad, which had Ngô “crazyguy” Công Anh jumping in to play instead of Park “Estrella” Geon this stage, looked in control of their destiny. Despite a close three-map loss in their opening game, they found two 2- 0s in their next two games, and by week four’s conclusion, the squad had locked in the first seed. They will also commence their journey in the upper semifinals, being one win away from Masters Toronto.
#2 TALON Esports
Until the final week of play, Talon was in a three-way tie behind ZETA and T1 but behind in terms of round differential and maps. Their final game, which they had to win to qualify, was against Masters Bangkok winners T1, and they not only won but also 2-0’d them to avoid a lower bracket start thanks to locking in the second seed due to map differential. While they had a bit of a rocky time, the Thai squad, with some stellar calling and fiery plays from Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut, were able to pull off a qualification.
#3 T1
The winners of Masters Bangkok brought that momentum into full flow by winning the first three games in Stage 1, guaranteeing them a playoff berth. However, they faced their first loss against RRQ and in their game against TALON, lost 2-0, which pushed them to the third seed. They will face off against DRX in the first round of playoffs, a team against which they have a 1-4 record this year, but the one time they did beat them this year, they went on to win Masters Bangkok. Their six-player roster has not seen any changes this stage.
#4 Nongshim RedForce
The Ascension winners started this stage strong with a win against RRQ, but the next two losses forced them into a rough spot. Their 2-0 against Team Secret meant that their game against ZETA in week five would decide which of the two teams qualified. They closed out the series in map three and shared a 3-2 record with T1 and TALON, however, thanks to them having the worst record in terms of map and round differential, they are the fourth seed and will begin their run in the lower bracket, meaning similar to PRX, they have no second chances.
Circuit points for Champions
With each team getting one point per game win this stage, T1 are still leading thanks to the points from their Kickoff win plus their Masters Bangkok Trophy. Of the four teams that didn’t qualify for the playoffs, only DFM failed to find a win this Stage, meaning they will gain zero total circuit points. Both Team Secret and Global Esports, while failing to make playoffs, netted themselves a point apiece thanks to their wins against RRQ and DFM, respectively, while ZETA have two points from this stage.
The playoffs commence on April 26, with TALON facing off against Gen.G and T1 going up against DRX.
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT Pacific
