VCT Pacific League: Secret and T1 move to semifinals

T1 and Team Secret won their quarterfinal games in the VCT Pacific League, moving one step closer to becoming the region’s inaugural champions and securing a spot at VCT Masters Tokyo.

After a cutthroat regular league, the VCT Pacific League resumed today with the highly anticipated playoffs action. The first quarterfinal saw a clash between ZETA DIVISION and Team Secret, and the second featured a dramatic power struggle between T1 and Gen.G Esports. Here is how the match unfolded:

ZETA DIVISION vs Team Secret

ZETA put up a hard fight and forced both of the games into overtime, so even though Secret won the series with a clean 2-0 score, it was no easy feat for them. Picking up Haven to begin the action, Secret wasted little time in establishing their superiority, cruising to a commanding 6-3 lead. 

Even though ZETA was able to stop the bleeding and win three more rounds before the break, Secret was still holding its head high going into the second half with a 9-3 lead. However, the game took a thrilling turn in the second half when ZETA eventually broke through Secret’s defense and won nine rounds to force overtime. The squad, however, struggled in the overtime round against Secret, who struck three straight times to win the map 15-13.

Jayvee “DubsteP” Paguirigan’s prowess at fragging helped Secret surge to an early 7-5 lead as they carried the momentum into the opponent’s chosen map, Ascent. Similar to the first half, ZETA maintained composure in the second half and put on an outstanding defensive display to force the game’s second overtime. Yet in overtime, Secret was able to stave off ZETA’s furious assault and win two rounds in a row to seal the map with a 14-12 triumph. ftriuDubsteP’s impressive 50-kill performance across the two maps overshadowed Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto and Koji “Laz” Ushida’s valiant efforts to save ZETA. and Gen.G Esports

T1 vs Gen.G Esports

The best-of-three series kicked off on Fracture with T1 dominating the first half of the map. T1 held the lead throughout the second half despite Gen.G’s relentless efforts, eventually securing the map with a resounding 13-8 victory. Ascent was Gen.G’s pick to turn things around, but their comeback attempt ran into stiff resistance in the first half as T1 held their ground and established a dominating 8-4 advantage.

Kim “Meteor” Tae-O provided Gen.G with the heroic effort they required to escape a loss, attacking ferociously against T1’s formidable defense to propel his squad to a stunning 13-11 victory. The series came down to the last and final map, Lotus where both the teams put on top-notch performances but the score stayed knotted at 6-6. T1, however, was able to regain their lost momentum and raced to a lopsided 13-7 victory to clinch the series 2-1 and book a semifinal match with Paper Rex.

Header: Riot Games