The battle for the VCT Pacific Stage 1 is about to heat up in Seoul, South Korea.
The third franchise league in the VCT 2024 season is about to start with the VCT Pacific Stage 1 that is expected to begin from Saturday, April 6th to May 12th. This is to determine the top three teams from the Pacific that will represent the region at the second international VCT event of the year, Masters Shanghai. And of the 11 teams that make up the VCT Pacific League, there are 10 franchised teams alongside last season's Ascension winner, Bleed Esports.
But even after bringing in some high-profile import players, Bleed has not been able to make its mark in the VCT. They were amongst the first two teams to be eliminated from the VCT Kickoff after they failed to get past the group stage. And Bleed aren't the only team that has made moves to update its roster as the other Singaporean-based org, Paper Rex also decided to shift things around.
Overall, not many teams made changes as the likes of VCT Pacific Kickoff winners, Gen.G Esports have decided to stick with the same starting five that almost took home the Pacific as well as Korea's first-ever international title. Gen.G has arguably been one of the best teams in the world this year as their performances over the last few months have put the rest of the world on notice.
VCT Pacific Stage 1 - Format & Schedule
The first phase of the VCT Pacific Stage 1 is the group stage, which will take place from April 6 - 29 that will feature two single round-robin groups. The first will be Group Alpha that will have five teams while Group Omega will have six. And to make things interesting, the group stage will be a cross-group match-up. This will see teams in Group Alpha going up against the teams in Group Omega and vice versa.
All games will be a best-of-three series with the winner from each respective group going through to the playoffs. The table toppers in both Group Alpha and Omega will also receive a bye straight to the upper bracket semifinals. As for the teams that finish second and third in the group stage, they will still make it to the playoffs, but into the knockout round instead. Much like the new format for the group stage, the playoffs will be a hybrid-elimination bracket.
The knockout round will be the only phase in the playoffs with a single-elimination bracket. And once the knockout round best-of-three matches are concluded, the winners of those two series will join the first-seeded teams in the double-elimination bracket. Speaking of the playoffs, that will take place from May 3 - 12 with all games being a best-of-three. Only the lower bracket final as well as grand final will be a best-of-five.
VCT Pacific Stage 1 - Groups
Group Alpha
Gen.G Esports
T1
Team Secret
Global Esports
Bleed Esports
Group Omega
Paper Rex
DRX
ZETA DIVISION
Talon Esports
DetonatioN FocusMe
Rex Regum Qeon
Given that all games during the group stage will be cross-group matches, it will make for some exciting gameplay as the likes of Gen.G and Paper Rex are in opposite groups. Gen.G was the team responsible for beating PRX in the grand finals of VCT Pacific Kickoff and again during Masters Madrid playoffs. Another popular South Korean org, DRX is in Group Omega and will be looking to get revenge against Gen.G as well after they got eliminated by their hands during VCT Pacific Kickoff. The T1-PRX series will also be one to look out for as it means another case of ‘sibling rivalry’ between the likes of Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto and his brother, Kelvin “xccurate” Susanto.
VCT Pacific Stage 1 - Teams
As Gen.G are the only team to have three Championship points to their name, they will be looking to add to that tally to keep up with Sentinels, who are currently in the lead with six points after winning the VCT Americas Kickoff and Masters Madrid. But waiting in the wings are the likes of DRX and PRX, two teams who have carried the Pacific banner since the start of last season with their exemplary performances in both domestic and international tournaments.
Of course, the Pacific also has many underdogs within its franchise league, all of whom are capable of qualifying to Masters Shanghai as well. The likes of T1 and Team Secret are just some names while Global Esports as well as Talon Esports have shown glimpses of quality in the first few months of the new season. As Masters Shanghai will only have three spots per region up for grabs, it will be interesting to see who makes it to the playoffs by then.
The Pacific region has come close on more than one occasion right now to lift an international VCT trophy. Twice PRX were denied victory in the grand finals with the first being at Masters Copenhagen back in 2022 and most recently, last year's VCT Champions where they lost in Los Angeles. Gen.G are the latest team to join the list having lost to Sentinels just a few weeks ago.
Be sure to catch all the action from the VCT Pacific Stage 1 starting from tomorrow onwards until May 12th on the official Twitch and YouTube channels.
