Surprise results and landmark finishes marked the final week of the VCT Pacific Stage 2 group stage. The eight-team playoff field has been set, with most of the specific seedings not decided until the final matchday.
Here are the results from week four:
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Nongshim RedForce
Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #3 Rb Goo Sang-min (구상민) Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) 2-0 Gen.G
Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) Ash Ha Hyun-cheol (하현철) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) Lakia Kim Jong-min (김종민) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태)
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Paper Rex
Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov 2-0 TALON
TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #6 Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha
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DRX
DRX Korea Rank #2 Flicker Kim Tae-hee (김태희) Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) Estrella Park Gun (박건) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) 2-0 Global Esports
Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #30 UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov Papi Federico Evangelista ban Joseph Seungmin Oh yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Deryeon Derrick Yee
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ZETA DIVISION
ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #3 TenTen Kim Tae-young (김태영) Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe CLZ Hikaru Mizutani Xdll Yuto Mizomori 2-1 BOOM Esports
BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #12 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan Famouz Fikri Zaki Hamdani Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo NcSlasher Sheldon Andersen Chandra BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma
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Rex Regum Qeon
Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #5 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan crazyguy Ngô Công Anh 2-1 Team Secret
Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #35 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes n1zzy Nguyễn Tấn Thành ZesBeeW Sha Mohtar kellyS Kelly Sedillo Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes
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T1
T1 Korea Rank #4 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) DH Kang Dong-ho (강동호) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) 2-0 DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #5 Meiy Ibuki Seki SSeeS Tomonori Okimura Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) gyen Koki Nakamura
The final week of the group stage kicked off with quite possibly the most important match. On one side of the stage, Gen.G had the chance to capture the top seed of Group Alpha, while Nongshim RedForce looked to punch its ticket to the playoffs to keep its quest for Champions Paris, and in turn, survival in VCT, alive. In this match, Nongshim had the perfect read on Gen.G in-game leader Munchkin . From reading his lurk timings on Lotus to mollying the positions he typically plays on Ascent, the Ascension squad flipped Gen.G's trademark map pick and then stood strong for an overtime win on their own pick. The win put Gen.G in limbo, relying on the results of other teams to see if they'd start in the upper or lower bracket, while Nongshim clinched entry into the playoffs.
Gutsy trigger discipline from Rb .In a clash between two of the hottest SEA teams in the region, Paper Rex found the edge over TALON, shutting the Thai squad down 2-0 to claim Group Omega's top seed. A key performance from full-time Duelist player something on both maps saw the Russian sharpshooter pick up 52 kills. Combined with d4v41 's efforts on the day, the duo combined for 100 kills. The two players were hand in hand at the top of the leaderboard. TALON, with a win over T1 and a loss to DFM, secured at least third place, meaning their starting position in the playoffs would remain unchanged.
Clean shots from something but... no ace.While DRX secured its playoff future weeks in advance, a 2-0 win over Global Esports guaranteed a bye from the first round by clinching Group Omega's top seed. Global was already sealed out of the playoffs and mathematically eliminated from qualifying for Champions, but still threatened to stun the Pacific Kickoff winners. Global held a 9-5 lead on DRX's pick of Lotus, but once the Korean squad picked up steam on its attacker half, it was too late. DRX won eight of the next nine rounds from that point to win 13-10. If Lotus had a lean towards any particular side of the map, Icebox didn't. Momentum changed hands often, but in the end it was DRX winning by the same 13-10 scoreline. There were three aces in the map, with seven multikills of four or higher lighting up the kills timeline.
UdoTan shuts down HYUNMIN 's attempt at an ace with his own.In a battle between two teams looking to avoid the bottom spot of Group Omega, ZETA DIVISION toughed out a 2-1 win over BOOM Esports. The result solidified a 0-5 finish to the stage for BOOM, and broke a six-game run of matches without picking up a map. After the teams won their respective map picks, ZETA dominated on Ascent, picking up six rounds on their attacker side before dominating on defense to win 13-8. BOOM's fate now relies on the final championship point standings, as a top-eight finish would earn them an invite to Pacific Ascension and a finish outside would mean relegation to Challengers.
On the final day of play, Rex Regum Qeon and Team Secret's clash threatened to turn Group Omega upside down. A Team Secret win would send RRQ home with TS into the playoffs as the fourth seed, while an RRQ win would grant the Indonesian squad the second seed. Additionally, Gen.G relied on a Team Secret win to avoid the fourth seed. Team Secret's map pick of Ascent was one for the ages. After entering halftime down 9-3 and then losing the next three rounds, the Filipino side pushed forward to force overtime and eventually to a 15-13 win. However, that level of success was missing on the next two maps, as Team Secret managed just seven total rounds to lose the series 2-1.
A gorgeous 4K from n1zzy to fuel Team Secret's comeback.In the final match of the group stage, T1 and DFM met with seeding implications also on the line. While the losing team would be slotted into the fourth seed, a T1 win would put them in the second seed, while a DFM win would boost them to second. T1 played identical comps on DFM's Sunset and their own Haven, and rookie Controller DH continued to impress. He finished with a match-high 1.27 rating, heavily involved in everything T1 was doing. He finished with a 26/22/23 scoreline. The series was never quite close. On DFM's Sunset, T1 began on attack and ran out to a 9-3 lead, never looking back to win 13-6. On their own pick of Haven, T1 gave up just four DFM attacker rounds, cruising along to a 13-9 win to close the series.
Playoffs
The Stage 2 playoffs will begin next week with several teams searching for crucial wins. While Nongshim and TALON will look to fight for automatic qualification to Champions, RRQ and T1 will look to find a top-five finish, which could be enough to qualify through points.
The first weekend of playoff matches are as follows:
Upper Round 1 (August 13)
Upper Semifinals (August 14)
Lower Round 1 (August 15)