With only a few weeks remaining till the highly anticipated VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 begins, teams have started gearing up to battle it out in the big stages for a shot at the first Valorant Masters event of the year.
For the uninitiated, VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 will feature twelve elite Valorant teams throughout the APAC region who will compete in front of a live audience at the Sangam Colosseum in South Korea in an attempt to secure a slot for the upcoming Valorant Masters Santiago.
In this article, we’ll go through everything you need to know about the VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026, including the participating teams, the revamped event format, opening matchups, and more.
VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff Teams
The VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 will see 10 partnered organisations receiving direct invites to the event alongside the top two Ascension squads.
The following twelve teams are confirmed to be participating in the VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff:
- DetonatioN FocusMe
- DRX
- FULL SENSE
- Gen.G Esports
- Global Esports
- Paper Rex
- Rex Regum Qeon
- T1
- Team Secret
- ZETA DIVISION
- VARREL (Ascension Qualifier)
- Nongshim RedForce (Ascension Qualifier)
VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff Format
For the first time, VCT Pacific Kickoff will feature a triple-elimination bracket, meaning teams are only eliminated after three losses. The first loss drops an Upper Bracket team to the Middle Bracket, a second loss sends them to the Lower Bracket, and a third loss knocks them out of the tournament entirely.
The four teams that qualified for Champions Paris: T1, DRX, PRX, and RRQ will receive a bye into round 2 of the Upper Bracket, with the rest of the teams being placed in Upper Bracket R1.
VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026 Opening Matchups
Below, we have listed the opening matchups for the VCT Pacific Kickoff 2026:
- Match 1: NS RedForce vs Team Secret
- Match 2: ZETA DIVISION vs FULL SENSE
- Match 3: VARREL vs Global Esports
- Match 4: DetonatioN FM vs Gen.G Esports
- Match 5: T1 vs Winner of Match 1
- Match 6: DRX vs Winner of Match 2
- Match 7: PRX vs Winner of Match 3
- Match 8: RRQ vs Winner of Match 4
VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff Dates
The VCT Pacific 2026 Kickoff is scheduled to start on January 22nd and will feature three weeks of intense Valorant action before concluding on February 15th. The top three teams from the event will secure their slots at the Valorant Masters Santiago 2026.
