Paper Rex wins VCT 2023 Pacific League: Final placements and recap

Declan Mclaughlin
PRX lifts the first VCR Pacific trophy

The VCT Pacific league has wrapped up, and Paper Rex has finally bested their Asian rivals, DRX, in a reverse sweep in the Grand Finals. Here is everything you need to know about the inaugural VCT Pacific split.

Paper Rex has finally proved themselves to be the best of Asian Valorant after a reverse sweep win against DRX in the Grand Finals of the VCT Pacific League.

Throughout the match, we saw Paper Rex cook up their famous off-meta team compositions, putting their star player Ilya “something” Petrov on the Reyna. And they put on a masterclass of the infamous “W Gaming” mentality, showcasing some of the most aggressive playstyles VCT has ever seen.

DRX was billed as one of the favorites, rarely losing against regional foes

Paper Rex is still on record as the best-performing Asian team after their second-place finish at Masters Copenhagen 2022. However, after the tournament, the team bombed out early at the subsequent VCT Champions 2022 and VCT LOCK//IN, with doubts if their playstyle could work.

After their off-season pick up of something to the roster, and a pivot of Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto on the flex role, the team was revitalized during the Regular Season and swept through the playoffs without dropping a series. Even besting DRX twice over in the playoffs.

As it stands, Paper Rex will be the number one seed out of VCT Pacific coming into Masters Tokyo, and DRX and T1 will take the second and third seeds. All three teams have also qualified for VCT Champions 2023 in Los Angeles later this year.

Here is everything you need to know to catch up on the tournament.

Contents

  • Streams and VODS
  • Format and schedule
  • MVPs
  • Standings
  • All teams
  • VCT 2023 Pacific League: League and Grand Finals MVPs

    At the end of both the regular season and playoffs, players had the opportunity to gain an MVP medal for their performances.

    DRX’s controller superstar, Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan was given the League Play MVP for his consistent performance for the team throughout the regular season.

    Paper Rex’s newest pick up, something, was awarded with the Grand Finals MVP for his incredible performance during the Grand Finals against DRX.

    Here are the MVPs for both the regular season and Grand Finals:

    AwardPlayer
    League Play MVPMaKo
    Grand Finals MVPsomething

    VCT 2023 Pacific League: Format and schedule

    The VCT Pacific League started on March 25 with the regular season, where all 10 teams will battle in a single round-robin stage, with every match being a best-of-three series. Matches will be played on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays, with the exception of the final super week (Friday through Tuesday).

    Only six teams will make the double-elimination playoffs and in the end, only three teams will qualify for VCT Masters Tokyo and Valorant Champions 2023. There will also be a last-chance qualifier in July, giving teams one more chance to secure a spot at the Valorant Champions.

    Here are the final standings for the tournament:

    PlacementTeamQualifies forPrize Money (USD)
    1Paper RexVCT Masters Tokyo & Valorant Champions 2023$100,000
    2DRXVCT Masters Tokyo & Valorant Champions 2023$65,000
    3T1VCT Masters Tokyo & Valorant Champions 2023$40,000
    4Gen.G EsportsVCT Pacific LCQ$25,000
    5-6Team Secret
    ZETA DIVISION
    VCT Pacific LCQ$10,000
    7Rex Regum QeonVCT Pacific LCQ
    8Global EsportsVCT Pacific LCQ
    9Talon EsportsVCT Pacific LCQ
    10DetonatioN FocusMeVCT Pacific LCQ

    Below is the complete schedule for each stage:

    • Regular Season: March 25-May 16
    • Playoffs: May 19-May 28
    • Last Chance Qualifier: July

    Playoffs (May 19 — May 28)

    VCT Pacific League 2023 playoffs bracket

    Day 1: May 19

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Upper Round 1ZETA DIVISION 0-2 Team Secret1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Upper Round 1T1 2-1 Gen.G3:30 AM6:30 AM11:30 AM

    Day 2: May 20

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Upper Round 2DRX 2-1 Team Secret1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Upper Round 2Paper Rex 2-0 T13:30 AM6:30 AM11:30 AM

    Day 3: May 21

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Lower Round 1Gen.G 2-1 Team Secret1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Lower Round 1T1 2-1 ZETA DIVISION3:30 AM6:30 AM11:30 AM

    Day 4: May 22

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Upper FinalDRX 0-2 Paper Rex1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Lower Round 2Gen.G 0-2 T13:30 AM6:30 AM11:30 AM

    Day 5: May 27

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Lower FinalDRX 3-2 T11 AM4 AM9 AM

    Day 6: May 28

    StageMatchPTETGMT
    Grand FinalPaper Rex 3-2 DRX1 AM4 AM9 AM

    Regular season (March 25 — May 16)

    Week 1 schedule (March 25 — March 27)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    March 25ZETA DIVISION 0-2 DRX2 AM5 AM9 AM
    T1 2-1 Global Esports5 AM8 AM12 PM
    March 26Paper Rex 2-0 Detonation FocusMe2 AM5 AM9 AM
    Team Secret 2-1 Talon5 AM8 AM12 PM
    March 27RRQ 0-2 Gen.G2 AM5 AM10 AM

    Week 2 schedule (April 1 — April 3)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    April 1ZETA DIVISION 2-1 RRQ2 AM5 AM10 AM
    Talon 0-2 T15 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 2Team Secret 2-1 Paper Rex2 AM5 AM10 AM
    Gen.G 2-1 Detonation FocusMe5 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 3Global Esports 0-2 DRX2 AM5 AM10 AM

    Week 3 schedule (April 8 — April 10)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    April 8RRQ 2-0 Detonation FocusMe2 AM5 AM10 AM
    T1 0-2 Paper Rex5 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 9ZETA DIVISION 2-1 Global Esports2 AM5 AM10 AM
    Talon 0-2 DRX5 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 10Team Secret 0-2 Gen.G2 AM5 AM10 AM

    Week 4 schedule (April 15 — April 17)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    April 15Paper Rex 0-2 DRX2 AM5 AM10 AM
    Team Secret 0-2 RRQ5 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 16T1 0-2 Gen.G2 AM5 AM10 AM
    ZETA DIVISION 2-0 Detonation FocusMe5 AM8 AM1 PM
    April 17Talon 0-2 Global Esports2 AM5 AM10 AM

    Week 5 schedule (April 22 — April 24)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    April 22Paper Rex 2-1 Global Esports1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Gen.G 1-2 DRX4 AM7 AM12 PM
    April 23T1 2-0 RRQ1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Team Secret 2-0 Detonation FocusMe4 AM7 AM12 PM
    April 24ZETA DIVISION 0-2 Talon1 AM4 AM9 AM

    Week 6 schedule (April 29 — May 1)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    April 29T1 2-1 Detonation FocusMe1 AM4 AM9 AM
    ZETA DIVISON 2-1 Team Secret4 AM7 AM12 PM
    April 30Global Esports 2-0 Gen.G1 AM4 AM9 AM
    RRQ 1-2 DRX4 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 1Talon 1-2 Paper Rex1 AM4 AM9 AM

    Week 7 schedule (May 6 — May 8)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    May 6Talon 2-0 Gen.G1 AM4 AM9 AM
    ZETA DIVISION 0-2 Paper Rex4 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 7RRQ 2-0 Global Esports1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Team Secret 0-2 T14 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 8DRX 2-0 Detonation FocusMe1 AM4 AM9 AM

    Week 8 schedule (May 12 — May 16)

    DayMatchPTETGMT
    May 12Paper Rex 2-0 Gen.G1 AM4 AM9 AM
    ZETA DIVISION 1-2 T14 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 13Team Secret 2-0 DRX1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Global Esports 2-0 Detonation FocusMe4 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 14Talon 1-2 RRQ1 AM4 AM9 AM
    ZETA DIVISION 2-1 Gen.G4 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 15T1 0-2 DRX1 AM4 AM9 AM
    Team Secret 2-0 Global Esports4 AM7 AM12 PM
    May 16Talon 2-0 Detonation FocusMe1 AM4 AM9 AM
    RRQ 0-2 Paper Rex4 AM7 AM12 PM

    VCT Pacific League: Regular Season Standings

    Darker Green = Qualified for playoffs’ upper bracket round 2. Light Green = Qualified for playoffs’ upper bracket round 1. Red = Eliminated.

    PlacementTeamRecord
    1DRX8-1
    2Paper Rex7-2
    3T16-3
    4ZETA DIVISION5-4
    5Team Secret5-4
    6Gen.G4-5
    7Rex Regum Qeon4-5
    8Global Esports3-6
    9Talon3-6
    10Detonation FocusMe0-9

    VCT 2023 Pacific League: Streams and VODs

    The VCT Pacific was broadcasted across multiple languages on both Twitch and YouTube. We’ve embedded the Grand Finals VOD for your convinience. All previous VODs can be found on the respective language broadcast’s YouTube Channels. 

    Below you can find all the official streams and channels for the league in different languages:

    English:

    Japanese:

    Korean:

    Thai:

    Indonesian:

    In addition to the official streams, there were watch parties with select content creators from all around the world.

    VCT Pacific League: Teams and players

    Below you can find all the teams that competed in the VCT Americas league and their respective lineups:

    TeamPlayers
    Detonation FocusMetakej, Reita, xnfri, Anthem, Suggest
    DRXstax, Rb, Zest, BuZz, MaKo, Foxy9
    Gen.G EsportsMeteor, k1Ng, TS, eKo, Sylvan, GodDead
    Global EsportsSkRossi, AYRIN, t3xture, Monyet, Bazzi
    Paper Rexmindfreak, f0rsaken, Benkai, d4v41, Jinggg, something
    Rex Regum QeonEmman, EJAY, Tehbotol, fl1pzjder, Lmemore
    T1xeta, Munchkin, ban, Sayaplayer, Carpe
    Talon EsportsCrws, foxz, sushiboys, garnetS, JitboyS
    Team SecretJessieVash, DubsteP, BORKUM, Jremy, invy
    Detonation FocusMeLaz, crow, Dep, SugarZ3ro, TENNN

About The Author

Based in Indiana, Declan McLaughlin is an esports reporter for Dexerto Esports covering Valorant, LoL and anything else that pops up. Previously an editor and reporter at Upcomer, Declan is often found reading investigative stories or trying to do investigations himself. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Indiana University. You can contact him at declan.mclaughlin@dexerto.com.