Riot announced matchups for the 2025 Pacific Kickoff, which features a 12-team, double-elimination bracket.

Like Americas and EMEA, the draw was divided into two pools, with the first pool including teams from the region that made Champions 2024. Those teams received a bye from the first round, qualifying for the upper bracket's quarterfinals. The second pool has the region's remaining eight teams, which were drawn against each other with the winners facing teams from the first pool.

The 2025 Pacific Kickoff bracket. (Photo by Riot Games)

With two new organizations and a slew of roster moves between teams, the first round brings a handful of interesting matchups.

BOOM Esports BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #2 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan Famouz Fikri Zaki Hamdani Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo NcSlasher Sheldon Andersen Chandra BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma vs. T1 T1 Korea Rank #3 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주)

Two months ago, BOOM lost in the grand final of Pacific Ascension finishing their 2024 season as coming close, but not close enough to reaching VCT. Following Riot's decision to remove BLEED BLEED Inactive , BOOM earned their spot as the Pacific region's 12th team. Their first test at the top level of Valorant will be against T1, who this offseason have bolstered their ranks with the signings of Meteor , BuZz , and Sylvan . The winner of this match will go on to play last year's Stage 1 champions, Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #6 mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov .

Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #37 UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov kellyS Kelly Sedillo Papi Federico Evangelista Deryeon Derrick Yee vs. Team Secret Team Secret Asia-Pacific Rank #9 invy Adrian Jiggs Reyes JessieVash Jessie Cuyco Wild0reoo Brheyanne Christ Reyes 2GE James Goopio Jremy Jeremy Cabrera

Team Secret enjoyed a quietly successful 2024 season, finishing with an overall record of 10-7. They were third at the end of Stage 2, but were eliminated in the knockout stage of the playoffs. While Team Secret was in the middle of the Pacific pack, Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #37 UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov kellyS Kelly Sedillo Papi Federico Evangelista Deryeon Derrick Yee had a 2024 to forget. They registered just four wins on the season and ended Stage 2 with just three wins without any playoff appearances. They have since revamped their team, bringing in a new five-man roster. Three of their new signees are from the Phillippines and will make their GE debuts against the Phillippines-based Team Secret. The winner will go on to face TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #12 Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No .

Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Rank #13 Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan Estrella Park Gun (박건) vs. DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Rank #3 Meiy Ibuki Seki Art Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) gyen

Rex Regum Qeon had a solid 2024 as one of the teams in the middle of the pack. While they missed out on the Stage 1 playoffs, a better Stage 2 got them into the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the knockouts. They have had a quieter offseason, making just one personnel change while making short-lived appearances at Red Bull Home Ground and the Radiant Asia Invitational. They will take on a DFM team that has had anything but a quiet offseason. Widespread changes saw them pick up four new players, building around Duelist player Meiy . After shaking off some rust at Red Bull Home Ground, they impressed at the Radiant Asia Invitational, reaching the grand final and falling to Paper Rex. Awaiting the winner of the two teams is the Masters Shanghai champions, Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태)

ZETA DIVISION ZETA DIVISION Japan Rank #2 Dep Yuma Hashimoto SugarZ3ro Shota Watanabe CLZ Hikaru Mizutani SyouTa Shota Aoki Xdll Yuto Mizomori vs. Nongshim RedForce Nongshim RedForce Korea Rank #2 Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현)

ZETA's offseason began with the retirement of longtime player Laz . After qualifying for Champions 2023 through the Pacific LCQ, they failed to reach a single global event in 2024. They picked up a trio of players and a new head coach from tier 2 side FENNEL FENNEL Japan Rank #8 GON Kento Hara Aace Souta Itou Hals neth Yusuke Matsuda MrTenzouEz , and have shown some improvement. They reached the grand final of Red Bull Home Ground, falling to T1. Nongshim Redforce, previously known as Sin Prisa Gaming Sin Prisa Gaming Inactive Persia Yang Zi-on (양지온) margaret Kim Ji-woo (김지우) Dambi Lee Hyuk-kyu (이혁규) Francis Kim Mu-bin (김무빈) Ivy Park Sung-hyeon (박성현) before they were acquired, enter their maiden season in VCT after winning Pacific Ascension. The five players and head coach from SPG remain together, while NongShim's second-tier squad disbanded following Split 3 of Challengers Korea, which they won. Korean giants DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) , who have undergone a major offseason rebuild themselves, await the winner.

At least year's Pacific Kickoff, which was held with a three-group format that ended with a four-team single-elimination bracket, Gen.G put themselves on the map. After qualifying for the playoffs through the play-in, they swiftly defeated perennial powerhouses DRX and Paper Rex, marking their first competition victory in what went down as a successful 2024 for them.

Pacific Kickoff action will begin on January 16, with the two finalists of the event qualifying to Masters Bangkok.