The competitive season of the 2025 professional Valorant scene kicked off with four Kickoff qualifiers in each of the competitive regions: EMEA, China, Pacific, and Americas. Each tournament delivered exciting matches and unexpected results, and we will cover each one separately. However, today we will focus specifically on the Pacific region, namely the VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff. Below, we will recap the highlights of the event and the unexpected twists that viewers witnessed.

Tournament Overview

Before we begin, let’s go over the main details of the tournament. VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff took place from January 18 to February 9 in LAN format in Seoul at Sangam Colosseum. The event featured 12 teams from the VCT partnership program in the Pacific region. There was no prize pool, as teams instead competed for two slots at Masters Bangkok and Pacific Points, which are crucial for qualifying for the World Championship. The tournament was played in a playoff-only format, without a group stage.

Now that you have a brief overview of the event, it's time to talk about the key moments of VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff and what made this tournament memorable.

The Fall of the Event’s Favorites

To start, let’s talk about the pre-tournament favorites, who ultimately delivered a disappointing performance. We are referring to the Singaporean team Paper Rex, which, after outstanding results in previous years, completely collapsed.

To understand the situation better, let’s recall that Paper Rex finished 2nd at the 2023 World Championship and had a strong 2024 season, placing 3rd at VALORANT Masters Madrid 2024 and winning VCT 2024: Pacific Stage 1. Moreover, the team made no roster changes, maintaining their core lineup and status as the Pacific region’s favorite.

Despite this, Paper Rex entered VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff and, as mentioned earlier, collapsed entirely. After losing 1-2 to T1 in their first match, they dropped to the lower bracket, where they defeated ZETA DIVISION but then suffered a shocking 0-2 loss to regional underdogs DetonatioN FM, exiting the tournament in 7th-8th place.

This is undoubtedly a terrible result for the region’s former strongest team, and the reasons behind their decline remain unclear. Nevertheless, the players apologized to their fans and promised to redeem themselves in the upcoming Stage 1 qualifiers.

Three Teams Miss Their Fourth Consecutive International Event

After discussing the tournament favorites, let’s move on to some struggling teams: Team Secret, Rex Regum Qeon, and Global Esports. These teams continue to struggle, extending their streak of missed international events to two consecutive years.

These teams failed to qualify for all three international tournaments last year: Masters Madrid 2024, Masters Shanghai 2024, and Valorant Champions 2024, due to their poor performances throughout the season. Unfortunately for their fans, their losing streak continues, as all three teams underperformed in the current qualifiers and failed to secure spots for Masters Bangkok 2025.

This means Masters Bangkok will be their fourth missed international event in a row, which is a disastrous result for the organizations behind these teams.

The Tournament’s Dark Horse Lived Up to Expectations

Of course, after discussing the favorites and underperforming teams, we need to talk about the tournament's dark horse - Korean squad T1. Last year, T1 was not considered a complete underdog but consistently delivered mediocre results, placing them in the mid-tier of the Pacific region. However, during the offseason, the team underwent major roster changes, signing three new players. This transformation elevated T1 to the status of a regional contender, making them a team to watch.

T1 dominated the upper bracket with three consecutive wins, but after losing in the finals, they bounced back in the lower bracket to secure their place in the grand final. Thus, T1 fully justified their status as a dark horse and are now considered one of the strongest teams in the Pacific region.

An Intense Grand Final Between T1 and DRX

The grand final featured an intense showdown between the consistently strong DRX and the tournament’s dark horse, T1. The match was truly spectacular, exciting, and quite unusual in terms of individual map results. On Abyss, DRX completely dominated their opponents with a crushing 13-3 victory. However, T1 bounced back on their own map pick, Lotus, securing a comfortable 13-6 win. The following maps were much more competitive - DRX took Fracture with a 13-9 score, while T1 managed to edge out a 14-12 victory on Bind. With the series tied at 2-2, everything came down to the final map, Split. After 24 intense rounds, DRX emerged victorious. However, since there was no prize pool, both teams secured their spots at Masters Bangkok regardless of the final standings.

A New Kill Record

During the grand final, one player set a new personal kill record. That player was T1’s Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul. Despite his team’s loss, BuZz recorded an astonishing 101 kills across all five maps, making him the highest fragger of the event. Interestingly, BuZz previously played for DRX from 2022 to 2024, making this match even more personal for him.

Final Standings

VCT 2025: Pacific Kickoff was the first official tournament of the year in the Pacific region, offering fans an early look at the competitive landscape. DRX reaffirmed their dominance, while T1 showcased their significant improvement after last year’s struggles. Both teams are now preparing for Masters Bangkok, where they will compete against the world’s best teams.

• 1st place DRX - 3 Pacific Points, qualification for the Masters Bangkok

• 2nd place T1 - 2 Pacific Points, qualification for Masters Bangkok

• 3rd place Gen.G Esports - 1 Pacific Point

• 4th place Talon Esports - 1 Pacific Points

• 5-6 places Nongshim RedForce, DetonatioN FocusMe - no prizes

• 7-8 places Rex Regum Qeon, Paper Rex - no prizes

• 9-12 places BOOM Esports, Team Secret, Global Esports and ZETA DIVISION - no prizes

Stay tuned to our portal for the latest updates from the professional Valorant scene, as well as other exciting news about Riot Games’ beloved shooter.