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The new format of the Valorant Champions Tour, or VCT, starting from 2023, divides teams into three region-based International Leagues: the Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas. This is the beginning of the partnership model announced by Riot Games during Champions 2022.
The Pacific Split of the International League will consist of teams from the Southern, South Eastern, and Eastern parts of Asia alongside Oceania. The main events of the Pacific League will take place in Seoul, South Korea.
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Most APAC teams have gone into International events so far as underdogs but have managed to create many upsets against super-teams. This article will dive into what fans can expect from the Pacific League of VCT 2023 alongside the Challengers Circuits and the Ascension Tournament of the region.
Reasons why Pacific League 2023 will take VCT to the next level
1) The Pacific League has the highest number of teams that have stayed together from the pre-partnership era
Roster changes are expected during the off-season of all sports, including esports. With the partnership model being introduced, most teams across all regions got overhauled for various reasons, the biggest of which was that many top teams did not make it into the model.
Other partnered organizations picked up star players from the non-partner ones to further stack up their rosters. Some, however, decided to keep most, if not their entire roster coming into partnership together. Such organizations were the most in number in the Pacific League.
Three teams, DRX, Paper Rex, and Zeta Division, are going into VCT main events with their previous rosters intact. This gives them a significant edge over their regional and international competitors in terms of team collaboration and the experience of having played together for a long time.
It will be interesting to see how this factors into matches in the coming days.
2) Players from other regions are joining APAC rosters
The three teams that have stayed together are also the most successful teams from the region. This led to a shortage of players with experience playing at the top levels of the VCT.
Some teams, like the Indonesian team Rex Regum Qeon, decided not to revamp their rosters to a great extent, despite several top-notch Indonesian players becoming free agents during the off-season.
Others, like esports giants T1 and GenG made their way into the partnership model in APAC. T1 signed xeta and Sayaplayer, who previously starred on the North American Cloud9 and The Guard teams.
Global Esports, from India, also brought in the erstwhile Canadian IGL, Jordan "AYRIN" He, from the XSET roster.
The diversity in these rosters makes the Pacific league one of the most diverse when it comes to cross-regional rosters. It remains to be seen how they adapt to the new teams.
3) Regional fandoms clash, and brand-new rivalries will be formed
Asian teams are known to have some of the biggest regional fandoms and some of the most supportive. Earlier editions of the VCT often broadcast hoards of supporters having watch parties for playoff matches of Zeta Division, Paper Rex, and DRX during Riot-sponsored international events.
Having more accessible access to Seoul will see fans flocking to the event venues to cheer for their favorite teams. This will drive the players to play even better.
Organizations have also made their roster decisions with this in mind. Global Esports, for example, in keeping with its name, has signed players from Indonesia, South Korea, Oceania, and its home country, India, in addition to their North American VCT Champions hardened IGL, AYRIN.
It was a brilliant choice on their part to make use of the 10-man roster provision to retain Ganesh "SkRossi" Gangadhar and Abhirup "Lightningfast" Choudhury to keep their Indian fans rooting for them in the upcoming VCT season.
4) Challengers and Ascension Leagues in the region
The Pacific leg of VCT 2023 has the most regions vying for the one partnership seat in 2024. There are ten regions: South Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Oceania.
With big-name teams like Bleed Esports investing heavily into the Valorant scene for the upcoming season alongside smaller regional superstars continuing their strive to play at the highest levels in the game, the Challengers Leagues in the region will be jam-packed with the competition.
These teams include Velocity Gaming and Revenant Esports from India, Boom Esports from Indonesia, Made in Thailand, and FULL SENSE from Thailand, among several other popular organizations with talented players.
5) New meta-defining play styles
Every region has a different style of playing Valorant. It is great fun to see these clashes and how teams adapt to each other's unique approach to the game during international tournaments.
Recent trends in the professional Valorant scene have shown a distinct movement back towards the pre-Chamber meta, with Killjoy dominating in Sentinels and teams like Paper Rex dipping into the Harbor wave. Jett is again being played as the primary Operator agent, which has shot up her pick rates across all maps.
With Korea being one of the most dominant sub-regions in the Pacific Leagues, how the notorious Korean Jett performs under this meta and what kind of setups the team uses to counter it will be a matter of great fascination.
Fans from across the world are in for some excellent gameplay from the Pacific League of VCT 2023 and its super-competitive Challengers Leagues and Ascension tournament.
