Valorant Champions Tour 2023 starts off with the Pacific League, as DRX and ZETA DIVISION meet each other in Seoul.

ZETA DIVISION and DRX last faced each other three months ago at ONE Pro Invitational, where Foxy9 stepped in place of Zest to help the South Koreans win. After an incredible performance in VCT LOCK//IN last month, DRX is ready to take on the Japanese squad. On the contrary, ZETA DIVISION has been facing bumps on the road and hoping to turn themselves around on VCT 2023 Pacific.

We are excited to see what new strategies these teams have been cooking up lately, especially DRX, who are known for their innovative approach to Valorant. Here’s everything to refresh your memory about both squads.

Credit: Rio Games

ZETA DIVISION

It has been a long time since we witnessed ZETA DIVISION’s consistent performance since VCT Japan last year. Their appearance at LOCK//IN Brazil was a short tour as they faced the Chilean giants Leviatán, losing 2:0. This Pacific League is another chance thrown at ZETA DIVISION to prove themselves and take the Japanese flag to their home field at Masters Tokyo. 

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Players

Koji “Laz” Ushida

• Role: Sentinel
• The Spike Rating: 0.73
• Average Combat Score: 171.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.92
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 70.73%
• Average Damage per Round: 131.1

Tomoaki “crow” Maruoka

• Role: Initiator
• The Spike Rating: 0.61
• Average Combat Score: 135.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.52
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 63.41%
• Average Damage per Round: 90.9

Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto

• Role: Duelist
• The Spike Rating: 0.76
• Average Combat Score: 178.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.87
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 58.54%
• Average Damage per Round: 113.5

Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe

• Role: Controller
• The Spike Rating: 0.89
• Average Combat Score: 178.0
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.80
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 70.73%
• Average Damage per Round: 122.2

Tenta “TENNN” Asai

• Role: Initiator
• The Spike Rating: 0.52
• Average Combat Score: 132.5
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.50
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 51.22%
• Average Damage per Round: 84.4

Player to Watch

While we will be keeping a close eye on Dep, we think SugarZ3ro will come out on top with the most ACS.

DRX

The South Korean legends of Valorant enjoyed a streak of ten series wins up until they were put to a stop by LOUD on this year’s VCT LOCK//IN. 2023 might just be DRX’s year as they keep showing us how to really play Valorant with strategies that teams worldwide follow. Their recent match against C9, especially, showcased the ability of DRX to compete against any franchise team and come out winning.

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Players

Kim “stax” Gu-taek

• Role: Initiator/Flex
• The Spike Rating: 1.01
• Average Combat Score: 194.8
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.97
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72.83%
• Average Damage per Round: 127.8

Goo “Rb” Sang-min

• Role: Flex
• The Spike Rating: 0.99
• Average Combat Score: 191.6
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.06
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 72.83%
• Average Damage per Round: 126.6

Kim “Zest” Gi-seok

• Role: Initiator/Flex
• The Spike Rating: 0.87
• Average Combat Score: 170.8
• Kill/Death Ratio: 0.95
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 74.64%
• Average Damage per Round: 113.8

Byung-chul “BuZz” Yu

• Role: Flex
• The Spike Rating: 1.11
• Average Combat Score: 238.1
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.13
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 75.00%
• Average Damage per Round: 147.9

Kim “MaKo” Myeong-kwan

• Role: Controller
• The Spike Rating: 1.31
• Average Combat Score: 240.8
• Kill/Death Ratio: 1.25
• Kill/Assist/Trade/Survive: 79.71%
• Average Damage per Round: 154.7

Player to Watch

There is no doubt that MaKo will continue to be the top fragger playing a controller role. We do not know how he does it, but we are excited to see it again!

VCT 2023 Pacific League – ZETA DIVISION vs DRX Predictions

Even though we are hoping for ZETA DIVISION to get up on their feet, our official prediction is that this will be an easy victory for DRX, and they won’t allow even a single map for the Japanese.

Maps

DRX will ban Lotus and Split while ZETA tries to avoid Fracture and Haven. stax’s squad will grab their wins on Icebox and Pearl.

Score

Map 1: DRX to win with ZETA DIVISION<10.

Map 2: DRX to win with ZETA DIVISION>12.

Top Fragger

What’s the point of even having a duelist when MaKo will be the top fragger of the series playing smokes?

Match Links

Don’t miss out on this exciting match, as it will livestream in multiple languages on Twitch and YouTube at 05:00 ET/ 10:00 CET/ 02:00 PT.

If you’re a fan of watch parties, VCT Pacific’s Twitter released an official list of streams you can tune on!

Let’s get the party started! 🎉

Get in these talents’ streams from across Asia for the official #VCTPacific watch parties!#MakeWaves pic.twitter.com/c6j9StLcfG

— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) March 24, 2023

Keep an eye on ESTNN for more information on VCT 2023 Pacific League’s matches, predictions and recaps.