Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Unranked 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) defeated FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix China Unranked Autumn Kale Dunne Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) in three maps to secure a top-four finish at China Kickoff, getting not just one step closer to Masters Bangkok, but securing points towards Champions 2025 qualification.

The series was played out in three maps, with Dragon Ranger Gaming choosing Abyss, FunPlus Phoenix choosing Pearl, and Haven the decider map.

Abyss saw a classic FunPlus Phoenix triple Controller composition take the stage, while Dragon Ranger Gaming's double Controller, double Initiator comp yielded good results, too. The second half was tight. DRG responded to a 3-0 FPX run with a 5-0 run of their own, setting up for a tight finish that saw an overtime-or-bust round from FPX. Leading 12-11, DRG won a nail-biter of a final round to prevent the map from going to extras and took a 1-0 series lead.

Blink and you might miss a kill this round.

After coming close but not close enough on Abyss, FPX bounced back in a big way. They dominated the defense side of Pearl, snatching 11 rounds away from a DRG team that never quite settled in. From there, a strong pistol round to reach match point was just a formality before the map was sealed 13-1.

Three of BerLIN 's 17 kills on Pearl.

On an attack-sided Haven, where rounds on the defender side can be hard to come by, DRG got out to a 5-0 lead, getting the Operator into the hands of Jett player TvirusLuke early. FPX grabbed two rounds in the first half, largely in part thanks to Life 's Blade Storm, but the DRG lead ballooned to 9-3 by halftime. With FPX opting for a double Controller, double Initiator, and zero Sentinel team composition, a lack of map control on their attack side would bleed over onto their defense side. Despite losing four of the second half's first five rounds, DRG won the map 13-7 to advance to the lower semifinal.

With the win, Dragon Ranger Gaming gets one step closer to qualifying for Masters Bangkok. Bangkok would be the organization's first international event since qualifying for Masters Shanghai in 2024.

Faced with the risk of relegation, China's two Ascension teams have placed themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League and secure survival. A top-four finish secures one championship point, while first and second place give three and two points, respectively.

With the loss, FPX will be sidelined from VCT action until late March, when China Stage 1 begins. After qualifying for all three international events in 2024, they begin their 2025 watching the first international from home.

The next matches of VCT China Kickoff are: