The VCT Pacific League Kickoff is set to start this weekend.
The VALORANT 2024 season is officially here with the start of the VCT Pacific League Kickoff and its North American counterpart, both of which will take place this weekend. The Kickoff is a new implementation for the 2024 season and is part of the four major regions in VALORANT, which means there will no longer be a LOCK//IN event. With that said, there will of course be two teams who will qualify for the VCT Madrid Masters that will be happening in March.
There will also be 11 teams taking part in the VCT Pacific League Kickoff that will include Bleed Esports, who will be part of the journey until the end of the 2025 season. This was after Bleed overcame all the odds to be the VCT Ascension Pacific champions last season, which saw them take down SCARZ 3-0 in the grand finals. And given its new line-up that also features a 2021 Reykjavík Masters winner.
- Read More: Bleed Esports' finalised its roster
But aside from Bleed and its stellar roster, plenty of focus will be on the VCT Pacific League champions, Paper Rex. Having come so close at both Masters Tokyo and VCT Champions last season, PRX also made a few changes to its roster and have replaced one of its long-standing stalwarts with yet another Indonesian talent. With already one Pacific League title under its belt, PRX are looking to be one of the favourites to snag another trophy before the first Masters event.
The Pacific League is known to have plenty of underrated talent and it will not go astray this season with the likes of DRX, Global Esports, T1, and Talon Esports had changes made to its roster for the upcoming season. And with only two slots available for Masters Madrid, it will be an interesting February to say the least.
VCT Pacific League Kickoff - Format & Schedule
Much like the other major regions, the VCT Pacific League Kickoff will have an 11-team format that will separate teams into two groups of four with the last being a group of three. With that being Group C, the highest-placing team in that group will receive a bye. As that is where PRX is situated, they will just need one win to move on to the next stage. As for the other two teams, they will need two wins to advance.
This is because the group stage is a double-elimination GSL format that will see the top-seeded team from each group moving on to the playoffs. As for the teams that finished second, they will move on to the play-in stage with a three-team group stage. The winner of the play-in stage will be the final team to make the playoffs. All matches in the group and play-in stage will be a best-of-three.
As for the playoffs, it will be a single-elimination bracket to determine the final two teams that will represent the region at the Madrid Masters. Both semifinal matches will be a best-of-three while the grand finals will be a best-of-five. But the biggest difference between the winner of the Kickoff and the first-runner up will be the valuable 3 Championship Points that will go a long way in the season.
And given how the first international event is only a month away, the VCT Pacific League Kickoff will only be held from February 17 - 25. The Pacific League will also be the first to end in February while the rest of the regions will end during the first few days March.
VCT Pacific League Kickoff - Teams
Fans of the VCT Pacific League will know what to look forward to this season as the likes of Paper Rex will be the team that everyone will have a target for. PRX is the only team from the Pacific League to have placed in the top three in two of the three international events last year. This included a third-place finish at Tokyo Masters with a last-minute substitute and a first-runner up at VCT Champions 2023. While they have lost a few major components, the team's playstyle and ethos still rings true to being one of the most aggressive teams in the VCT.
And PRX will have a slightly easier route to the playoffs as they are in Group C alongside Gen.G Esports and Rex Regum Qeon. As PRX was the highest-placed team at Champs, they received a bye in the first round of matches. This means that PRX will just have to win one best-of-three series against the winner between Gen.G and RRQ to move on to the playoffs. But if there's a group of death for the VCT Pacific League Kickoff, it has to be Group A that features T1, Bleed Esports, ZETA DIVISION, and Global Esports.
Bleed will be looking to prove itself after an impressive run during Pacific Ascension and it will be facing some of the region's best teams. ZETA was the LCQ winner last season and managed to book its place at Champs 2023 alongside T1, who finished third overall in the Pacific League. The only wildcard in Group A will be GE as the Indian org brought in plenty of imports to build around its sole local player.
Group B can also prove to be a tricky challenge as the likes of DRX, DetonatioN FocusMe, Team Secret, and Talon Esports will be looking to leave a better impression than last season. DRX was the only other team in the group that managed to qualify for both the Madrid Masters and Champs. Team Secret will be the next-toughest challenge in the group after it came extremely close to qualifying for Champs last year. Both DFM and Talon have also refreshed its rosters with multiple new players in hopes of having a better dynamic this season.
Group A
Bleed Esports
Global Esports
T1
ZETA DIVISION
Group B
DetonatioN FocusMe
DRX
Talon Esports
Team Secret
Group C
Gen.G Esports
Paper Rex
Rex Regum QeonThe VCT Pacific League Kickoff will start this weekend and we will find out who have qualified to the playoffs and the play-in stage by February 21, which will be next Wednesday. And by next weekend, we will know the two teams that will represent the Pacific League at the Madrid Masters.
