The teams in the VCT Pacific League have embarked on their very first superweek to end the regular season, and a shakeup of the final standings is a big possibility as every team plays their last two VALORANT matches between Friday (May 12) and Tuesday (May 16).
While DRX are clearly on the top of the league and can likely breeze their way all the way to Masters Tokyo, the teams below them are scrambling for not only playoff spots but also placement within the playoff bracket.
Though things in Pacific were fairly predictable early on, the last two weeks have been filled with several surprises that have led eyes away from some teams and onto others. Some players seem like they are finally getting the hang of things in Seoul, while others look exhausted after a highly successful start to the first franchised season.
If you’re just tuning in for superweek and have missed all of the other chaos VCT Pacific has to offer, here are five players you should be keeping an eye on.
5) Dep
Dep has been one of the very best duelist players in VCT Pacific all season. Though his team sit at the middle of the pack, it’s not a stretch to assume that if they were at the top, Dep would have the best statistics on Jett in the league.
ZETA DIVISION are a team with a lot of weight on their shoulders. With Masters Tokyo coming up in a little over a month, Japan would love to have some home team representation at the event. With the other Japanese team in the Pacific League, Detonation FocusMe, yet to have their first win, ZETA are now Japan’s only hope.
To make it through playoffs and grab a spot at Masters Tokyo, ZETA need to step up, and Dep would have to be a major part of that.
Though he has been tearing up the competition when he plays Jett, for the team’s last few matches they have favored a Raze-oriented composition on maps like Split and Fracture.
In contrast to one of Dep’s most standout performances, where he ended Haven with a 390 average combat score and just under 30 kills against Global Esports, his recent showings on Raze have been lackluster. Though Raze is an agent known to dominate on Split, Dep put up just a 16/13 KDA on the map against Paper Rex two weeks ago.
Dep is on our list of players to watch because, with the right mindset, the right agent, and the support from his team, he could make or break ZETA’s chances of making playoffs and keeping their momentum going once they get there.
4) Lmemore
With their recent win over Global Esports, Lmemore’s team, Rex Regum Qeon, have suddenly found themselves in VCT Pacific’s last playoff spot. The Indonesian team are one of the few in the Pacific League who struggled early on to find their footing. Despite this, they’ve been stepping up recently, even taking a map off of Pacific’s top team DRX in week six.
Lmemore has been a crucial piece of RRQ’s puzzle and continues to perform consistently through each match. Though he plays the sentinel role, he has still had a big impact and might hold the title of best Cypher player in the Pacific. He also has an impressive 260 average combat score on Killjoy over the last month.
Where he excels is in both clutch situations and pistol rounds. As far as sentinel players go, it is important that any team’s sentinel is able to stay calm and collected to clutch rounds since they are often the last players of the team left alive. Lmemore has succeeded against the odds several times to give RRQ wins.
Though sentinel players are not often the flashiest players, we guarantee Lmemore is a name to keep an eye on during the next two weeks of play, especially as his team holds on to that last playoff spot for dear life.
3) Rb
Rb should be a household name for VALORANT fans at this point, though he is often overshadowed by some of his flashier DRX teammates. His team are sitting comfortably at the top of the Pacific League, and haven’t lost a match yet.
So why should you watch Rb more than any other player on DRX?
First of all, Rb is one of the most quietly consistent players not just in VCT Pacific but in the entire world. He always shows up on every matchday with his cool and calm demeanor and doesn’t seem to let anything get to him. Lately, he’s been making a big impact in some of DRX’s most dominant map wins.
Rb often plays roles that put him out of the spotlight. Though he occasionally locks in Neon for a flashback to his Jett-playing past, Rb mostly plays initiator now. But this doesn’t mean he is locked into just one agent. In fact, Rb has already played nine different agents in 2023, more than anyone else in Pacific.
Since DRX have already secured their playoff spot, the team have the freedom to experiment with new strategies, though their CEO said on April 30 they’d still like to win the league with a flawless record. If anyone moves around or picks an unexpected agent, it would likely be Rb, the “king of versatility.”
Given that he’s been playing initiator to great success, we have to ask, what are the odds that Rb locks in VALORANT’s newest agent, Gekko?
2) Carpe
Of the three Korean teams in VCT Pacific, T1 had the slowest start out of the gate. While Gen.G and DRX were being flaunted as the best the Pacific League had to offer, T1 were waiting in the shadows for their turn to pounce. And their incredibly dominant victory over Team Secret last week had some heads turning.
The biggest difference for T1 compared to previous weeks, aside from Sayaplayer clearly feeling in the groove, was the synergy of the entire team. They all worked together like a well-oiled machine, and one crucial piece of that machine is Carpe. He even opted to play Gekko and looked fantastic on the agent, who we’ve seen little of so far in Pacific.
The former Overwatch League pro finally showcased his best form last week, even earning match MVP. If he keeps playing like this and working well with his teammates, T1 could even make a run at second place in the league going into playoffs.
While the team doesn’t need to worry about getting a spot in the first place, as they likely will without too much of a struggle, placing above Gen.G would mean a lot not only for just these playoffs but also in terms of the two organizations’ historic rivalry.
If Carpe continues to play well and really build up his consistency, he could be a huge name both in the superweek and Pacific League playoffs.
1) Crws
Crws is the in-game leader for Thai squad Talon Esports, and he has been on an absolute tear the last few weeks. He has not only clearly been making better calls for his team but has also excelled more on an individual level than we have seen from him in a while.
Talon are known as one of the most chaotic teams in the world in terms of their playstyle. They play very aggressively and occasionally haphazardly, which has gotten them into trouble before. The team even tried playing a triple duelist composition against DRX early in the season with no success.
To put it bluntly, Talon looked like they would finish all the way at the bottom of the standings, a shadow of their former selves despite what we know is an incredibly talented roster.
But it seems like the last two weeks have been full of VOD reviews and scrims for Talon because suddenly the team have new life. They most recently beat Gen.G 2-0, a massive win to boost not only their statistics but also their morale. Crws is undoubtedly a huge part of this change.
It feels like rather than plowing forward relentlessly with chaos, Talon have finally accepted this strategy might need some more coordination and refinement. In that match last week, though aggressive strategies were still being undertaken, the team were doing a great job of communicating and executing together with a plan. Therefore, we give a ton of credit to Crws for setting up his team correctly.
Though Talon currently sit in ninth place out of 10 teams in the Pacific League with a long road ahead of them this superweek, the spark has been lit and they are the one team that could seriously surprise us, all with Crws at the helm.
VCT Pacific matches will run all weekend and into next week, from Friday, May 12 to Tuesday, May 16. After superweek, the stage will be set for playoffs and then Pacific League finals leading into Masters Tokyo.
