DetonatioN FocusMe dominates Paper Rex in lower bracket encounter

With a 2-0 scoreline, DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Unranked Meiy Ibuki Seki Art Jinboong Kim Jin-won (김진원) Akame Yu Gwang-hui (유광희) gyen has eliminated Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Unranked mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov . The Japanese squad looks to continue their Kickoff run, next playing against another international finalist (and Masters winner), 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) , fresh from a loss against DRX.

The map veto saw Detonation removing their permaban, Bind, while Paper Rex continued banning Haven. Abyss was picked as the first map by DFM, with Paper Rex choosing to continue the series on Pearl. Split and Lotus were removed next, leaving Fracture as the decider map.

DetonatioN started the series with a pistol win on Abyss, with gyen recovering the round for his team. Paper Rex came back on the bonus, stringing together a streak of rounds by exploiting B, thanks in part to something 's early kills and back-to-back-to-back triple kills from mindfreak . A timeout led to Paper Rex switching sites to catch DFM off-guard, but the Japanese squad adapted, finding their first buy round after a clutch from Art . DetonatioN kept the momentum going, shutting out the offense from the half and scoring 7-5 by the break.

A second pistol win set DFM on track to run away with their map, as they went into the attack with a significant advantage. Paper Rex looked to stayed in the map, looking to mirror their opponents with five round wins, but gyen helped keep his team in the lead. The controller player had a stellar performance throughout Abyss, with 27 eliminations and 5 first kills leading to a 300 ACS and 1.84 rating on Abyss. DFM eventually won their map pick 13-10, now only needing one map to find the upset.

“Confidence is important to get a win,” gyen said after the series. “I'm good with the Shorty, so I won against Jinggg,” he commented on the head-to-head. “It was part of the team plan.”

Heading into Pearl, gyen kept his performance up, with a well-timed push through Water helping his team win the attacking pistol round. Winning the bonus helped DFM dominate the half, stopped only by a thrifty win. gyen was allowed breathing room for the remainder of the half, as his four teammates found over 10 eliminations each in the first half, a feat which neither playing on the opposing team accomplished. DetonatioN won nine intitial fights on their attack, led by Meiy and Akame going 6-0 in first engagements and earning a 1.67 and 1.63 rating, respectively.

The Southeast Asian team's second pause was used after the ninth round, but DFM continued pushing towards the finish line, dominating their attack to end the half 11-1. The second half was straightforward, two quick rounds going DetonatioN's way to end the map 13-1 and eliminate Paper Rex with a 2-0.

gyen praised his opponents following the win. “Paper Rex is a tough team,” he said. “This match fired up our confidence,” he added.

The win will pit DetonatioN against Gen.G as both teams look to stay alive in Kickoff Pacific and qualify to the first-ever Masters event in Southeast Asia. Paper Rex is denied that opportunity, and will return to the stage until Stage 1, after the conclusion of Bangkok.

gyen commented on their upcoming match. “I'm a controller player, so I've been watching Karon a lot,” he said. “I'm going to pick on him with the Shorty.”