The fourth day of the VCT Pacific Stage 2 playoffs saw the field of teams cut down to just four, with three of the region's four Champions Paris slots claimed by the end of it.

While celebration erupted on one side of the stage, sadness and uncertainty was present on the other end at the end of today's pair of 2-0 sweeps.

T1 makes quick work of Nongshim

The stakes entering this match were clear for both sides. For T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 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) , a win secured qualification to Champions through Championship points at the bare minimum, regardless of the result of the second match of the day. For Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #4 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) , a win extended their VCT life span. The Ascension squad entered the playoffs knowing a top-two finish was needed to avoid needing to fight for survival at Ascension this year, while reaching Champions extends their stay in VCT for one more year.

The series opened on Nongshim's pick of Lotus, a map that has been shaky for the squad throughout Stage 2. The team has made a couple of comp changes throughout the stage, at times experimenting with Duelist Dambi on Waylay in a double-Controller, double-Initiator setup. Against T1, Nongshim went back to what was familiar, with Dambi on Neon and Ivy on Deadlock.

While the comp put the Nongshim players on their best roles, Lotus is still one of T1's stronger maps. It was a trademark of their run leading up to and including a trophy-lifting campaign at Masters Bangkok. T1 continued with its double-Duelist look, which has become synonymous with its success, and found great success on its opening attacker side.

T1 opened up on a roll. Neon player iZu caused chaos and capitalized on it, finding five first bloods. He ended the map with a game-high six first bloods. His disruption, paired with BuZz 's support, saw T1 claim ten rounds on the attack side. T1 gave up an eco round to a Nongshim force buy to start the second half, but that was a mere hiccup. T1 gave up four straight rounds, but quickly recovered to steal the Nongshim map pick 13-6.

T1's map pick of Ascent was a fairly strong map for Nongshim in Stage 2. Nongshim went 3-0 on the map with a unique Viper-Omen comp. Meanwhile, T1 had a double-Sentinel comp, with Meteor on Vyse and BuZz on Chamber. Nongshim claimed seven rounds on defense to enter halftime with a slim lead, but that quickly evaporated with losses in the pistol and anti-eco rounds. Five on attack seemed to be more than enough for T1.

Meteor shows great flair to slip the net.

T1's excellent control of the map using the double-Sentinel utility made entering either site a nightmare for Nongshim, which did not get its first spike planted until it was down 11-9. Even when the bomb did get down, T1 made use of strong, well-coordinated retakes to secure two consecutive defuses en route to a 13-9 win.

T1 moves on to the lower semifinal to play the winning team between DRX DRX Korea Rank #3 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) and 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 , while Nongshim now seems poised for a trip to Pacific Ascesion if it wishes to be in VCT in 2026. With the win, T1 clinches a Champions 2026 spot on points.

Rex Regum Qeon sweeps DRX to reach first-ever Champions

In the second elimination match of the day, RRQ went up against DRX in a match that would have Champions Paris implications. A win would secure a top-four finish, which in turn meant earning three championship points. Three points would give the winning team the edge in the battle between the two for third place and, with there being just four teams left, qualification to Champions.

The series opened on Rex Regum Qeon's Icebox, a usually strong map for both squads. Getting the operator into sharpshooter Jemkin 's hands was paramount to RRQ's success on defense. While he did not find as many kills as he may have wanted, the one-shot, one-kill gun set down the longest sightlines of the map to help RRQ to a 9-3 advantage after ending its defender side.

Ice cold from Jemkin to seal what could have been a disastrous round for RRQ.

On attack, with plenty of room for error, RRQ cleaned up well, with the pistol and anti-eco the beginning of the end to a clean 13-7 win on their own map pick.

The series then moved to DRX's Corrode, a map that neither team has looked the strongest on. Both teams went for the Omen-Viper Controller pairing that's become popular as of late, but the similarities stop there. While DRX went for Vyse, Fade, and HYUNMIN 's Neon to complement their Controllers, RRQ went for the aggressive double-Duelist, zero Sentinel approach that they used to eliminate 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) just days before.

Disruption was the name of the game for RRQ on defense. On a side without a Sentinel, RRQ won six rounds. With the likes of Jemkin on Waylay and Monyet on Neon leading the charge, sharp mechanics was behind most of that. The pair combined for 22 kills in the half, but the efforts of xffero , who had a match-leading 14 kills in the first half, cannot be understated.

RRQ's made it look easy on attack, with two of the games' most chaotic Duelists attracting the crosshairs of DRX in holding positions. With the ability to enter either site and the ability to take quick control of mid, RRQ broke down DRX's defense to win 13-9.

With the win, RRQ qualifies for its first-ever Champions event, while DRX will have to wait from home. With RRQ securing top four and sitting top-three in the points standings, they will qualify automatically, while DRX is relying on TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #5 Killua Tanate Teerasawad thyy Anupong Preamsak Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha to lose against Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #1 PatMen Patrick Mendoza Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov in the upper final and then lose against T1 or RRQ in the lower final.

Up next

Pacific Stage 2 is wrapping up, with finals weekend almost here. The next matches are as follows: