Week 3 of Pacific Stage 1, and saw red-hot teams continue to build on early momentum while struggling teams continued to stumble down the standings. The slate of six games was split, with three matches ending in two maps and three going the full distance. With two games left to play, three teams have secured their spot in the playoffs — two in Group Alpha and one from Group Omega.

Here's how the third weekend of matches played out:

After opening with a loss to BOOM and then bouncing back against a shaky Paper Rex, Gen.G opened the third week of games with a cruise, sweeping DetonatioN FocusMe with ease. Foxy9 , who was benched for former DFM man Suggest , returned to the stage for this match after two series on the bench. Gen.G gave up just six rounds in the series and moved to 2-1 and in good position to advance to the playoffs.

In another similarly swift series, Rex Regum Qeon swept ZETA DIVISION. Recent signing crazyguy impressed, recording team-highs in rating and kills. Despite ZETA Duelist Dep 's best efforts, dropping server highs with 28 kills and a 1.64 rating, ZETA's issues were beyond him.

After starting 0-2, Paper Rex's struggles continued. Meeting a red-hot BOOM Esports was perhaps unfortunate timing for PRX, but the 2-1 loss was one of their more encouraging performances of the year. New signing PatMen was elevated to the starting five in favor of mindfreak , entering as a full-time Initiator. The new iteration of PRX's roster saw changes in the agent composition, with double Duelist and double Initiator comps as the focus of a Vyse-centered agent pool. However, PRX had seemingly no answer for BOOM Duelist Famouz , who had his way on two of three maps leading his team in kills. He ended the series atop the leaderboard, dropping 69 kills. With the win, BOOM secured their spot in the Stage 1 playoffs.

While one Pacific Ascension team continued to stay hot, another stumbled. In a three-map series loss to TALON, Nongshim RedForce experienced highs and lows. After stealing their opponents' map pick in dominant 13-5 fashion, they had their own pick stolen 13-8 and then dominated 13-6 in the decider. After experimenting with new agent Waylay in the previous week, Nongshim Duelist Dambi returned to his roots on Neon. While he had a promising return to form with a match-leading 48 kills, the all-around dominance of TALON helped them to the win. New additions thyy and Killua contributed effectively, while star Duelist primmie led his team in ACS.

DRX appeared to want to wrap things up as quickly as fellow countrymen Gen.G, dominating Global Esports 13-3 on their map pick of Ascent. While Global displayed early strength on their map pick of Split with a 5-0 start, they would lose their early advantage by giving up five straight rounds. Another 5-0 DRX run in the second half got them closer to the finish line at 13-10, moving them to 3-0 on the season and securing them a playoff spot. New signing Estrella , who was picked up earlier in the week, had a solid debut series for his new team, even showing versatility on Vyse and Omen.

Since winning Masters Bangkok, T1 has been a bit shaky in victory but continued their winning ways against a winless Team Secret. The teams won their respective map picks, moving the series to Lotus, the decider map. After entering halftime down 7-5, T1 bounced back, winning seven straight rounds to get them to the doorstep of finishing the series. Duelist player BuZz had perhaps his best series of the stage, putting up 67 kills and a rating of 1.43 to lead T1 to victory and secure playoffs.

Health is just a cosmetic number for BuZz .

With three games down and two to play, there are now just five playoff spots left to claim — two in Group Alpha and three in Group Omega. With wins next week, Gen.G, Rec Regum Qeon, and TALON could claim playoff spots. With losses, Paper Rex, DetonatioN FocusMe, and Team Secret could miss out. A PRX-DFM clash will see the two teams clash for a must-win if they want to make playoffs.

Pacific Stage 1 will continue next week with the following matches: