VCT Pacific made its long-awaited start, with day one of Pacific Kickoff showcasing two of the region's newest teams and some of the most eye-catching rebuilds taking to the stage.

BOOM Esports vs. T1

BOOM Esports BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #2 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan Famouz Fikri Zaki Hamdani Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo NcSlasher Sheldon Andersen Chandra BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma entered VCT after a moment of divine intervention saw them finish second at Pacific Ascension only for Riot to remove BLEED BLEED Inactive and promote them. They maintained much of the roster that earned runners-up at Ascension, switching out their coaching staff and signing former Revenant Esports Revenant Esports Inactive skillZ Jayanth Ramesh player dos9 .

On the other side of the stage was T1 T1 Korea Rank #4 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) , who underwent one of the most eye-catching roster rebuilds and constructed what many have lauded as the next Korean superteam. They picked up Meteor , who won Masters Shanghai with Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) , and BuZz , who had risen to become one of the most notable duelists in Asia with DRX DRX Korea Rank #3 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) and Vision Strikers Vision Strikers Inactive stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Zest Kim Ki-seok (김기석) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) .

The three-map series played out on Pearl, Bind, and Fracture. BOOM picked Pearl and Bind was T1's pick.

The first map played out perhaps as expected, with BOOM grabbing a few more rounds than may have been expected from one of VCT's newest teams. Despite some heroics from dos9, T1 stole their opponents' map pick, inching towards a 13-11 victory.

An impressive dos9 1v3 clutch in his debut VCT map.

However, the script was flipped on map two. BOOM came out of the gates sprinting, winning the first four rounds and only allowing four kills for T1 in that span. They kept that pace up for much of their opening defense side, entering the second half with a 9-3 advantage. While T1 managed to build up some momentum in the second half, it was not enough to chip away at the large halftime advantage, leading to BOOM winning 13-8 to force a third map.

Momentum switched hands several times on Fracture, and T1 ended their attack half with a 7-5 lead. While seven rounds may not have been enough for a relatively attack-sided map, T1 kept up their momentum, cruising to a 13-7 victory.

T1 moves on to play Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #5 mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov , setting up a clash of titans in the upper quarterfinal, while BOOM is left to wait on upper quarterfinal results for their opponent.

ZETA Division vs. Nongshim RedForce

ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #2 Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe CLZ Hikaru Mizutani SyouTa Shota Aoki Xdll Yuto Mizomori entered the offseason with shoes to fill. After being one of Japan and Asia's most successful teams, a less-than-ideal 2024 saw them fail to qualify for a single international event, finishing eighth at the end of league play. The retirement of legend Laz put the team in rebuild mode, and they went and acquired SyouTa , CLZ , and Xdll from Japanese Challengers side FENNEL FENNEL Japan Rank #8 GON Kento Hara Aace Souta Itou Hals neth Yusuke Matsuda MrTenzouEz , also signing their head coach Johnta .

The Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #2 Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) team, while known as Sin Prisa Gaming Sin Prisa Gaming Inactive Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) , won Pacific Ascension with a win over BOOM Esports, and was acquired by Nongshim RedForce as they made the move to VCT. The core of five players and their head coach are best known for their aggressive style of play, highlighted by Dambi 's Neon.

The clash between ZETA's more patient, slow approach to play and Nongshim's fast-paced, aggressive one played out in two maps, with Korea's fourth team coming out on top.

Nongshim's pick of Split began with mixed results. They faced a 7-5 deficit at halftime, but they appeared to work their magic in the defense half, giving up just two rounds in the second half en route to a 13-9 victory on their debut map.

ZETA's map pick of Haven saw them begin on defense, allowing their opponents to seize momentum from the start. Excellent control of the map and a continuation of successful executes from Dambi 's Neon saw Nongshim run out to an 8-4 lead by halftime.

One of Persia 's several clutch moments.

Carrying the sizeable lead and plenty of momentum, Nongshim marched forward to yet another 13-9, logging a 2-0 victory in their VCT debut match.

While it is with a different core of players, the win over ZETA was Nongshim's 17th consecutive victory as an organization, a run that started during Stage 2 of the Korean VCL.

Initiator player Ivy finished with a server-high 40 kills, while Persia's 1.41 rating led all players. Nongshim will move on to take on domestic giants DRX DRX Korea Rank #3 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) in the upper quarterfinal, while ZETA moves down to the lower bracket.

VCT Pacific Kickoff will continue with the following matches: