T1
T1
Korea
Rank #3
stax
Kim Gu-taek (김구택)
Carpe
Lee Jae-hyeok (이재혁)
iZu
Ham Woo-ju (함우주)
xccurate
Kevin Susanto
and
Paper Rex
Paper Rex
Asia-Pacific
Rank #1
mindfreak
Aaron Leonhart
Jinggg
Wang Jing Jie
f0rsakeN
Jason Susanto
d4v41
Khalish Rusyaidee
something
Ilya Petrov
squeaked past the knockout rounds in the VCT Pacific 2024 Stage 1 playoffs, eliminating
Team Secret
Team Secret
Asia-Pacific
Rank #8
invy
Adrian Jiggs Reyes
JessieVash
Jessie Cuyco
Wild0reoo
Brheyanne Christ Reyes
2ge
James Goopio
Jremy
Jeremy Cabrera
and
Talon Esports
Talon Esports
Asia-Pacific
Rank #20
Crws
Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut
JitBoyS
Jittana Nokngam
primmie
Papaphat Sriprapha
ban
Joseph Seungmin Oh
Governor
Peter No
from Masters Shanghai contention.
Both T1 and Paper Rex move on to fight in a double elimination bracket against
Gen.G
Gen.G
Korea
Rank #1
Munchkin
Byeon Sang-beom (변상범)
t3xture
Kim Na-ra (김나라)
Meteor
Kim Tae-O (김태오)
Lakia
Kim Jong-min (김종민)
Karon
Kim Won-tae (김원태)
and
DRX
DRX
Korea
Rank #2
Flashback
Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁)
BuZz
Yu Byung-chul (유병철)
MaKo
Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관)
Foxy9
Jung Jae-sung (정재성)
BeYN
Kang Ha-bin (강하빈)
respectively, with only one team out of the four missing out on Masters Shanghai.
T1 sends Team Secret home
T1 picked Lotus, Team Secret picked Sunset, leaving Breeze as the potential decider.
Lotus had four mirror picks, with the only difference being Chamber for T1 and Killjoy for Team Secret. Starting on the defense side, T1 took an early lead despite losing the first pistol round. A second half eco win almost turned the tides for Team Secret, but Ham "iZu" Woo-ju (함우주) took T1 to a 13-7 map win.
For Sunset, Team Secret decided to run Breach and Sova, while T1 ran Gekko and KAY/O. Breach has his uses on the thin hallways of Sunset, while Gekko allows for some quick B takes and easy plants. It began with Team Secret taking the lead on defense, looking confident on their map pick. The pressure they would apply just before enemy executes or just after plants seemed impossible for T1 to counter.
Team Secret headed into the half up 9-3, but T1's attack side brought the map back. The map ended 13-11 for T1, winning the series 2-0. Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo (하정우) proved crucial on defense, but Kevin "xccurate" Susanto was the MVP for map two and the series as a whole. Playing both Chamber and Cypher, xccurate ended with 41 kills and a 163 ADR, second in the lobby behind Team Secret duelist Jeremy "Jremy" Cabrera.
With this loss, Team Secret are eliminated from the tournament and Masters Shanghai contention. T1 will face Gen.G in the upper semifinals on May 4.
Paper Rex keep themselves alive with win over Talon Esports
For the second elimination map of the day, Talon picked Lotus, Paper Rex picked Bind, leaving Sunset as the potential decider. Paper Rex ran their traditional double duelist, while Talon went with a double smoke composition. Paper Rex got off to a hot start and never slowed down, winning Lotus in a perfect 13-0. Due to this win, stats were outstanding from Paper Rex, including two players with a 100% KAST and Ilya "something" Petrov dropping both 248 ADR and seven first kills to only one first death.
Credit to Talon, they somehow turned a 13-0 loss on their map pick into a strong Bind performance. It wasn't 13-0, but a 9-3 half turned into a 13-7 map win. Unlike the previous map, something wasn't the star, it was Joseph "ban" Seungmin Oh from Talon Esports, who headed into the half with a 13/6/6 stat line. After losing the pistol round in the second half, they closed out the map and took the series to Sunset.
Similarly to Lotus, Paper Rex started off hot with a 10-2 first half. Their defense with both Breach and Gekko stifled everything Talon tried to throw at them, preventing Peter "Governor" No on the Neon from doing much. Thanks to Neon getting more value on their defense, Talon did bring the map back to a respectful scoreline. Yet, the lead proved too significant, and Paper Rex won 13-9 and eliminated Talon Esports from Masters Shanghai.
Paper Rex will face off against DRX in the upper semifinals on May 4.