Pacific heartbreak as T1, DRX fight for Masters Bangkok playoffs

Pacific fans were in for a heartbreak as both bets from the region, T1 and DRX, contest one of the last slots in the playoffs of VCT Masters Bangkok. See what happened in the T1 vs DRX match in the Swiss Stage of Masters Bangkok, here.

For this matchup, both teams sit at 1-1 in the Swiss Stage of Masters Bangkok. This meant that a loss would spell elimination, while a win would qualify them for the playoff stage.

DRX came into the competition as Pacific's first seed, while T1 was the second seed. Also, DRX has a 7-0 winstreak against T1 in the head-to-head. However, the circumstances of their faceoff in the international stage meant that a lot was on the line, and fans of the Pacific region will no doubt see this as a bittersweet turn of events.

On one hand, Pacific guarantees a team in the playoffs. On the other, friendly fire would eliminate either team.

DRX landed on Fracture, their map choice, swinging. They took the first four rounds and forced a timeout from T1 right before round 5. Their timeout seems to have reset them, and T1 looked like they had a fighting chance now. The rest of the half was more closely matched, but DRX stayed in the lead, 7-5.

T1 on the Attacker side continued to chip away at what remained of DRX's lead. They took the pistol round and the following buy advantage round with relative ease and successfully evened out the game. DRX pulled ahead again in the next round though, thanks to a sneaky defuse from Flashback. This lead was more short-lived as T1 equalized it in the following round.

T1 continued to ride their momentum but DRX refused to be driven into a corner on their own map pick. Thanks to Meteor's stellar performance on Vyse, T1 took the map 13-11.

T1 looked way more comfortable in the opening of their map choice. Their momentum from map 1 carried over, and they ended the first half at a commanding 8-4 after a 5-round win-streak.

They only widened their lead by taking the pistol round of the second half. This quickly propelled them to 10 rounds while DRX was still sitting at 4 on the T1's bonus. Their slightly weaker buy didn't seem to matter though, as T1 took the bonus and placed themselves two rounds away from qualifying for the Masters Bangkok playoffs. Round 12 for T1 was a Flawless, and their closing round was just as effortless.

T1 took the map 13-4, breaking their lose streak against DRX, and qualifying for the Masters Bangkok playoff stage.

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