Day six of Kickoff China ended with another set of two teams eliminated from the event. Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #7 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Cangshu Zheng Yujun (手郑宇峻) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) TvirusLuke Chen Cheng-ching Ying Wang Chenxu (王晨旭) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) sent TYLOO TYLOO China Rank #24 5CM Ding Xuanpeng (丁宣鹏) Ninebody Ding Yi (丁毅) slowly Kelun Sun (孙科伦) hfmi0dzjc9z7 Zhang Juncheng (张峻程) Eren Yang Zhengwei (杨曾威) home with a 2-0 victory, while Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #5 o0o0o Ye Xiaodong (叶晓东) SWERL Ali Kobraee CB Wang Qingchuan (王庆川) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) defeated Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #4 SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) Juicy Tyler James Aeria in a close three-map series. The victors will next play against each other in an attempt to continue their lower bracket run and advance to the latter half of the tournament.

Dragon Ranger Gaming vs. TYLOO

Both teams came into this match seeking a second chance at life following respective 2-0 losses to Titan Esports Club and Trace Esports.

TYLOO opted to open the bout on Pearl, a map they hadn't yet shown, with a double-Duelist composition featuring Ninebody on Jett and Eren on Yoru. That aggressive component struggled early on, as DRG consistently got their rotations on the right sites and won out critical duels on their defense to take an 8-4 lead in the first half. A second pistol win for DRG in round 13 sealed the deal; their fast site hits proved to be much more effective than their opponents', allowing them to win five out of six postplants and take Pearl 13-6.

Statistically, Nicc led the server with 19 kills, 264 ACS, and a 100% KAST, reflecting his ability to consistently secure information for his team on KAY/O. Flex1n followed close behind with 17 kills and 255 ACS.

Flex1n secures the round from the grave by 0.37 seconds.

The next map was DRG's pick of Haven. Both teams opted for conventional Sova-Breach compositions, with the only difference being TYLOO's preference for Neon over Jett. This time, things were constantly neck-and-neck, with both teams earning streaks of rounds for a 6-6 half, the result often being decided by one critical setup or duel. The second half proceeded similarly, but DRG eked out just a few more rounds than the opposition to close out Haven 13-10. vo0kashu dominated with 23 kills to only 13 deaths and 184 ADR, frequently swinging the game in his team's favor through individual brilliance.

With this win, DRG stays alive in the lower bracket, while TYLOO has been eliminated 0-2 and will have to wait until Stage 1 to find their first win of 2025.

Nova Esports vs. Wolves Esports

The second match of the day pit Nova Esports, sent to the lower bracket by 2024 Champions EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) , against Wolves Esports, defeated in round one by Ascension winners Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #3 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 .

Fracture, selected by Wolves, opened the series, with Nova starting on defense. Both teams opted for similar compositions, with different sentinel choices and SiuFatBB playing Tejo opposite SWERL 's Raze. The double-Duelist composition was still strong on defense, as the pair found a combined 27 eliminations in the first half, and was able to win eight rounds before Wolves had an opportunity to plant. Wolves had a stronger showing in the second half, but SWERL outshone the rest of the server with another 14 kills and a 1v2 clutch to cap off his 4K in the final round, ending the map 13-11.

Wolves bounced back in the second map, Abyss. Wolves was able to win a close first half after X, and a pistol win in the attacking half only extended their lead. A clutch from Lysoar denied CB 's ace to gives Wolves match point, and two rounds from Nova were not enough to stop Spring 's aggression in the final round, ending Abyss 13-8 and sending the series to the decider.

Split was picked as the decider map. Wolves was able to take the pistol round, but Nova had control the entirety of the map. In the first few rounds, Wolves only kept rounds close during eco rounds, and was eventually able to tie the scoreline after a timeout, but would never win another round after 6-6. Nova took the pistol round coming back from the break, and their defense was oppressive. Well-oiled retakes and a stellar performance from dynamic duo GuanG and SWERL kept Wolves out of the match with 12 kills apiece, eliminating the wanderers with a 13-6 on the final map.

Despite Wolves having the advantage multiple times, Nova was able to win every round on Split defense.

The victory means Nova Esports will need to play against Dragon Ranger Gaming, as the two teams look to stay alive in the lower bracket and break into the top-six.

Kickoff China will continue with the upper semifinals:

Co-authored with raezeri.