Action in the lower bracket of VCT Pacific Stage 1 began on Saturday, with Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #3 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh and Kiwoom DRX Kiwoom DRX Korea Rank #4 Hermes Ahn Byeong-wook (안병욱) yong Kim Ho-yong (김호용) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) living to fight another day against the two fourth-seeded teams from Group Omega and Group Alpha.

Rex Regum Qeon affirms upper hand over DetonatioN FocusMe

In the third matchup between these two teams this year, Rex Regum Qeon moved to a perfect 3-0 against DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #3 Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura yatsuka Kazuya Ikeda Caedye Amon Mateus Okakura Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) , which includes a 5-0 record in VCT play since the start of the partnership era.

DFM became the first team in the region to pick and play Ascent since the classic map's return to the map pool. Against RRQ's double-Sentinel comp, DFM simply looked more prepared to play the map. Beginning on attack, Akame in his new role as the guiding light of the team as Neon, paved the way, taking on seven first duels on attack to help open the map on a run of seven straight rounds. RRQ salvaged an 8-4 halftime deficit, but they struggled to find success on their own attack side. Meiy , on Jett, was an unstoppable force, going a perfect 6-0 in first duels on defense to help DFM close out the map 13-9.

RRQ's pick of Breeze appeared to be a counter pick to DFM. The map was a perma ban for the Japanese squad through Stage 1, and DFM and RRQ did not play it in their last meeting due to RRQ banning it. RRQ went with a slice-heavy comp, with Neon, Viper, and Harbor, while DFM opted for a double-Controller, double-Duelist look with Omen-Viper and Jett-Neon.

Jemkin can do it with the Op and with the Overdrive.

In the early goings, it looked as though RRQ would make this map a quick one. A 7-5 halftime lead was followed up with pistol and anti-eco round wins, but DFM didn't go down without a fight. A run of five straight rounds lost saw RRQ lose the lead, but momentum was soon after seized by RRQ, who won four of the next five rounds to close out the map 13-11.

After going the distance 14-12 on Lotus in the last match of the group stage, both teams floated the map to the decider. Unsurprisingly, there were no comp changes, but while the map was more defense-leaning last week, it tilted slightly towards the attackers this week.

DFM's double-Duelist was held to just six rounds on attack, with Meiy and Akame combining for 23 kills and the former going 4-0 in first battles. The story, however, was Jemkin. On Chamber, he picked up seven kills with the Operator. While he wasn't the one to open up battles, he was the one to close them on Lotus, with his crosshair being the most dangerous one to step into on this map.

RRQ's comp allowed for it to play its own way. xffero 's Toxic Screen applied pressure on A, while a slower approach enabled Jemkin to use the Operator or his Tour de Force as he pleased. RRQ's attack was dominant, with the team only slipping up twice to win 13-8 and eliminate DFM.

Nongshim tries to recapture Santiago magic, but falls to Kiwoom DRX

In the second match of the day, KRX downed Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #1 Xross Jeonghwan (정환) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) in three maps, with the storyline being Masters Santiago MVP Dambi returning to Neon for the final two maps. Additionally, the match marked yong 's return to the starting lineup in place of Hermes , who replaced him in the team's 2-0 loss to FULL SENSE FULL SENSE Asia-Pacific Rank #6 Leviathan Thanyathon Nakmee Killua Tanate Teerasawad primmie Papaphat Sriprapha JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut .

Play began on Nongshim's Pearl, which was a tight map as expected. The map isn't exactly a strong one for either team, and that could be seen especially later on. Nongshim appeared to be running away with the map after a dominant defense and quick start to the second half saw the team seize an 11-4 lead. From there, KRX clawed back. KRX simply appeared to have better control of the map, moving its pawns in the right places to disorient the attacking Nongshim. Seven straight KRX rounds tied the map at 11-11, but Nongshim quickly snapped back into form, winning two to close out the map 13-11.

KRX picked Split, a map that it has not played once through Stage 1. They went with a double-Duelist look with free1ng on Raze and HYUNMIN on Jett, but most eyes were trained on the other side of the screen for Dambi on Neon and Francis on Yoru. Once the map began, Nongshim became the second team in VCT to even dare to play with post-nerf Yoru, joining Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #5 Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) ZynX Kim Dong-ha (김동하) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) . What looked to be an attempt to put players into comfort roles backfired for Nongshim. Flashes of brilliance did show up, whether it be Dambi with a Bucky doing Dambi things or Francis picking up one of his four Operator kills, but the map was all KRX's.

HYUNMIN led an effort to hand KRX an 8-4 halftime lead, and even though KRX gave up a thrifty round loss following its second pistol of the map, the map was closed out soon after, 13-6.

Clean HYUNMIN 4K helps KRX roll forward on Split.

On Haven, Nongshim continued with Dambi on Neon and Francis on Yoru. With the Gatecrash duration cut in half, Francis's abilities on defense were not as effective as they were in Chile. With KRX starting on attack, the ability to wait out the Gatecrash timings gave KRX the upper hand in navigating the map. At halftime, it was 10-2 in favor of KRX. Like Split, a pistol round win for KRX, its fourth of the series, spelled the end of the beginning. Nongshim won the anti-eco thanks to a force-buy, which kick-started a run of rounds for the side.

Fast-paced execs were the theme of a seven-round streak, but mistake in playing post-plant off-site was the downfall for Nongshim, allowing KRX to reach match point. From there, KRX took on a large-scale gunfight in the A site, leaving just Francis alive against MaKo and yong, who was proving his worth with a map-high 21 kills to keep KRX alive.

Up next

With DFM and NS set to see out the rest of Stage 1 from home, the field now trims down to six teams, with four in the lower bracket now battling for one final spot at Masters London.

Stage 1 will continue with the following matches: