The second day of VCT Pacific brought about two strong comebacks from Global Esports Global Esports Asia-Pacific Unranked UdoTan Go Kyung-won (고경원) Kr1stal Savva Fedorov kellyS Kelly Sedillo Papi Federico Evangelista Deryeon Derrick Yee and Rex Regum Qeon Rex Regum Qeon Asia-Pacific Unranked Monyet Cahya Nugraha xffero David Monangin Jemkin Maksim Batorov Kushy Bryan Carlos Setiawan Estrella Park Gun (박건) . After both teams dropped the opening map of their matches — Global Esports by a lot and RRQ by a little — they each came back and took strong wins in two matches that went the full distance.

Global Esports vs. Team Secret

Global Esports debuted in 2025 after two disappointing years to kickstart their VCT partnership. Both iterations of Global Esports have struggled to make a dent in tier 1, accruing just seven wins across 24 matches since LOCK//IN.

The third roster of Global bundled together players from China and Philippines' tier 2 circuits, among which sit ex-TALON player UdoTan and Ascension China winner Kr1stal , formerly of Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Unranked Viva Lifan Ran (冉立凡) Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) coconut Colin Patrick Chung (钟弘祖) YOU Yip Man Ho .

Team Secret, meanwhile, have barely touched their roster since May of last year. The team replaced BORKUM and NDG with 2GE and Wild0reoo , as well as made some coaching changes, between Split and Split 2 of 2024. The only change since came a little over 24 hours ago, when Meow and Rbtx were announced as the two latest additions to the team's coaching staff.

Secret's Abyss opened up the show, in a map that was nearly an hour long despite the result. Global Esports got walloped and scored just three rounds on their opponents' map pick. Jremy was the only player to cross the 20-kill bar, also finding a 1.69 rating and 229 ADR.

And while Split seemed headed the same way, as Secret started out 4-2, Global didn't go down easy. On round 7, after a 3K from Kr1stal, his team put its foot down on the gas and chose only to lift at the victory screen. A dominant showing from Kr1stal, UdoTan , and Papi gave way to a 13-7 victory that tied the match.

By the time the teams loaded up Pearl, the momentum was firmly in the Global Esports camp and they carried that swagger in the decider. The team opened up with a 7-2 lead and dropped just a few more rounds while heading to a 13-6 victory that knocked Team Secret down to the lower bracket.

Jremy stood out across the board on fragging metrics (most kills, first kills, highest ADR and kill differential), but Papi averaged out the higher 1.23 rating thanks to fewer deaths and over four times as many assists that granted his team the 2-1 win.

A perfect way to open up this match.

Global's victory propels them into the upper quarterfinals, where TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Unranked Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No awaits. Team Secret, meanwhile, are down but not out. The Filipino squad has a lifeline in the lower bracket, where they will play in about a week against Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked 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) or RRQ.

DetonatioN FocusMe vs. Rex Regum Qeon

DFM have had a particularly rough time in the partnership, finding just two VCT wins since the start of 2023. Much like Global, the Japan-based banner has opted for a full rebuild for 2025 and have brought on Korean and Japanese players — most of them from Japan's VCL — in hopes of finally finding success.

RRQ have merely touched up their 2024 roster, signing on Warbirds as assistant coach and placing Kushy in Lmemore 's place as initiator, after the latter became a free agent during the offseason.

DFM came out swinging with a 6-1 lead on hostile territory. The momentum swung twice more throughout RRQ's Abyss and almost culminated in a DFM win during regular time after five straight points in the final moments of the game. RRQ managed to stretch the map into overtime where, after a massive 1v4 from Meiy, the Japanese squad found the 14-12 victory.

The Japanese side seemed to run out of steam quickly, though, as RRQ were not perturbed by the overtime fumble. Over the next two maps, DFM only managed to piece together six rounds. Two 13-3 losses on Pearl and Haven spelled their relegation to the lower bracket, from which they will fight next week.

Meiy was key in securing DFM's Abyss win, putting up a massive 32 kills and 1.62 rating on the first map, as well a clinical 1v4. His performance waned off on Pearl and Haven, as Jemkin stepped in as the dominant Duelist on the last map with 24 kills and a massive 1.89 rating.

What is it with Abyss and clutch rounds?

This loss also sends DetonatioN FocusMe to the lower bracket, where they will play the loser of the semifinal between TALON and Global Esports next week. RRQ's win sets them up for an important confrontation with Gen.G Gen.G Korea Unranked 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) , the current regional champions.

VCT Pacific continues tomorrow, with one of two days scheduled for the upper quarterfinals. The next round of competition will also see the 2025 debuts of Paper Rex, TALON, champions Gen.G, and DRX.

The upper quarterfinals of the VCT Pacific Kickoff are: