DetonatioN makes Radiant Asia upper final with 2-1 against Trace

DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #3 Meiy Ibuki Seki Art Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) gyen has defeated Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #4 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) heybay Ho Shun Hei Biank Zhong Jianfei (钟剑飞) with a 2-1 scoreline in the Radiant Asia Invitational playoffs. They will next face off against Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #3 mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov in the upper final, while Trace will play against DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) in a lower bracket elimination series.

DetonatioN enters the playoffs as a top seed from the Swiss stage, having defeated 2024 Champions EDward Gaming in their opening series and Rex Regum Qeon in their second match. Trace, meanwhile, went the distance, as they lost to RRQ but defeated Bilibili and Gen.G on their way to playoffs.

The map veto slightly favored DetonatioN, who have played Haven, the series' decider map, three times in the off-season. Despite a low winrate, the map scores have remained close for the Japanese team. Haven was previously a first ban for Trace, but it has remained open during their Radiant Asia Invitational run. Similarly, Abyss and Ascent slightly favored DFM in terms of winrate, but Trace had more series on both maps in comparison.

The match began on Ascent, where DFM took an early lead after winning the first three rounds. Trace recovered, winning an eco and Biank 's Odin helping break down the defense. Art and Meiy helped DFM recover, setting them on track to win the half 7-5. The duo ended their defense with a combined 22 eliminations, with Akame contributing 10 assists and a final-round 3K.

The second half mirrored the first, as DFM's offense extended their total streak to eight rounds in a row. Art earned an ace against the eco round, and closed out the third round after a last-minute rotation. Despite DetonatioN's lead, Trace countered their slow rounds, drawing out both of the attacker's timeouts at 11-10. The Japanese squad appeared desperate, unable to find an entrance into Trace's Odin-Operator stronghold. Kai and heybay ended Ascent 13-11 with a double-kill each.

Trace took over Abyss for their attack half, taking their first pistol of the series and further extending their lead with a round 4 win after two early kills. Biank opened the fifth round with an early Hunter's Fury kill, forcing DFM to save for the second round in a row. A Kai 3K prompted DFM's timeout, which in turn helped DFM adapt to Trace's B hit and win their second round of the map. Two rounds for DFM led to Trace's own timeout. The Chinese roster seemed to expect aggression from the defense, but their Operator purchase did not pay off, as DFM patiently closed out the half 6-6.

DetonatioN continued winning the pistol and bonus round, their third half of the match to begin 3-0 in their favor. SSeeS helped his team go up 11-6 with a 3K, and Art returned to the Odin for a triple of his own. Trace was only able to win two more rounds, with DFM's lead proving too much to overcome. Jinboong began the final round with his 23rd kill, leaving him just shy of 300 ACS for their 13-8 map win.

Kai opened Haven with a Classic 4K, helping Trace go up 3-0 to start the decider. Meiy was key the next two rounds, sealing a hectic fourth round with a 1v1 and opening the following round with a collateral. Trace's attack remained chaotic, which earned them a nearly-flawless round but was quickly shut down the next round. Two quick retakes from DFM put them in the lead, an advantage extended thanks to the Odin-Operator and DFM's coordinated retakes.

A quick A take earned DFM their fourth pistol round, eventually setting the score at 9-5. LuoK1ng held strong on C to close the gap, but an early A main fight went DFM's way, netting the Pacific squad double digits. heybay took over garage to set the score 11-7, but Akame opened up the B site the following round to reach match point. Trace's damaged economy was not enough to stay alive, as DFM won a 3v3 to end Haven 13-7 and win the series 2-1.

With this win, DetonatioN FocusMe remains undefeated in the Radiant Asia Invitational, as they qualified to playoffs after victories against EDward Gaming and Rex Regum Qeon. DetonatioN is the only team at the event with a flawless record, as the other top seed, DRX, lost to Paper Rex earlier in the playoffs.