VCT China Kickoff Play-in Recap: All All-Time Great Matchup, Bilibili Dominate, and More

VCT China Kickoff has finally begun in all its glory. VCT China is one of the 4 leagues in the VCT Partnership League, with fans worldwide speculating about which teams would make it to the playoff phase of this tournament. Currently, 11 teams in VCT China Kickoff will face each other in a GSL tournament format. The teams who win both their matches in their group stages will qualify for the playoff phase of the tournament. 

The fifth day of the event consisted of 3 very thrilling matches which kept fans on their toes. These 3 matches will decide the 1 team who will participate alongside the other 3 directly qualified teams during the VCT China Kickoff tournament. In this article let's take an in-depth recap of Day 5 of the VCT China Kick Play-In phase of the event & which teams will qualify for VCT Masters Madrid.

Also Read: VCT China Kickoff Group Stage Day 5 Recap & Play-In Predictions

Trace Esports & Titan Esports Club Had One Of The Best Matchups In VCT China History

Trace Esports and Titan Esports Club faced off against each other in the first game of VCT China Kickoff Play-In. These teams had faced off against each other just once. That game occurred at China Evolution Series Act 3: Heritability Main Event: Lower Round 3. During that B03 series, the game had ended with a score of 2:0 in the series with Trace Esports coming out on top.

The first map of this game was played on the map of Breeze which was the map picked by Titan Esports Club. They started the map in quite a dominating manner, winning the first 4 rounds on defense. Trace Esports were planning to let the game slip away from them that easily. They looked back the momentum and won 7 of the last 8 rounds, giving them the lead at 7-5 in the first half.

The second half was a scrappy affair between the two teams, with neither one able to take a comfortable lead. After completion of round 22, the score was 12-10 to Trace Esports. Titan Esports Club made the comeback to 12-12 and won in overtime with a score of 18-16. The player to watch during this map was none other than FengF. He ended the game with an Average combat score of 336 and a KDA of 40/24/15.

Map 2 was played on the map of Lotus which was the map pick of Trace Esports. Trace Esports started the game in the 5th gear and won the first 8 rounds on the bounce. Trace Esports ended the map with a score of 10-2. This was an incredible one-sided domination that was seen by the hands of Trace Esports. Trace Esports went on to win the map with a score of 13-6, completing this one-sided affair and taking the series to 1-1. The player to watch was none other than FengF again. He ended this map with an Average combat score of 309 and a KDA of 19/11/4.

The decided map ie map was played on the map of Split. If Trace Esports won this map they would have completed a huge reverse sweep. Having the intention of completing this reverse sweep, Trace Esports won 8 out of the first 9 maps in the game. Trace Esports ended the first half with a score of 9-3. Trace Esports won the first two rounds in the second half of the map increasing their lead and putting more pressure on Titan Esports Club. 

Finally, Titan Esports Club woke up from their slumber by winning 5 rounds in a row. This push for momentum was a little too late as Trace Esports won the next two maps and won the game with a score of 13-8, completing the reverse sweep. In this game, the player to watch was none other than Rb who ended the game with an Average combat score of 322 & a KDA of 24/14/4.

Also Read: India And Indonesia Commemorate 75 Years Of Diplomatic Ties With Landmark Esports Showmatch

Bilibili Gaming Put Up a Dominating Performance against Titan Esports Club

As Titan Esports Club lost the first match at the VCT China Kickoff Play-in, they would need to play the second match. This would put quite a bit of pressure on them as they would be coming off a loss. Titan Esports Club's second match would be against Bilibili Gaming. The interesting part is that these two teams have faced off against each other twice. This was the China Evolution Series Act 3: Heritability tournament. Bilibili Gaming during both those games lost against Titan Esports Club.

The first map of this series was played on the map of Lotus which was the map pick of Titan Esports Club. They began the map on the right foot winning the first 2 rounds but then all came crashing down. Bilibili Gaming won 9 out of the next 10 rounds during the game. In the second half, they simply steamrolled Titan Esports Club and won the next 4 rounds and secured the win. Bilibili Gaming won map one with a score of 13-3. The player to watch was none other than Yosemite on Viper. He ended the game with an Average combat score of 298 and an Average combat score of 19/6/3.

Map 2 was played on Ascent and it started similar to map 1. Titan Esports Club won the first 2 rounds and then went on to lose the next 6. The score at the end of the first half was 7-5 in favor of Bilibili Gaming. Bilibili Gaming similar to the last game started the second half in quite a dominating fashion winning 5 rounds in a row. Bilibili Gaming secured the win on this map with a score of 13-8. The player to watch on this map was none other than whzy. He played Jett and had an Average combat score of 314 and a KDA of 25/13/5.

Trace Esports Prove Their Mettle in VCT China 

As Trance Esports won the first match at the VCT China Kickoff Play-in, they would need to play the third match. This would put less pressure on them as they would be coming off a win. Trance Esports' second match would be against Bilibili Gaming. The interesting part is that these two teams have faced off against each other 4 times. This was the China Evolution Series Act 1 Variation, China Evolution Series Act 2 selection & VCT Champions Tour 2023: Champions China Qualifier, Both Bilibili Gaming & Trance Esports won 2 games each from their 4 matchups until now.

The first map of this series was played on the map of Lotus which was the map pick of Trance Esports. They began the map on the wrong foot losing the first 4 rounds. Things didn’t look good for them as then all came crashing down. Bilibili Gaming won 9 out of the 12 rounds during the first half. The first ended with a score of 9-3. In the second half, they nearly got steamrolled by Trance Esports.

After completion of round 23, Trance Esports was close to the comeback with the score being 12-11. Sadly they couldn’t take the game to overtime &. Bilibili Gaming won map one with a score of 13-11. The player to watch was none other than Yosemite on Viper. He ended the game with an Average combat score of 268 and an Average combat score of 22/14/9.

Map 2 was played on Sunset and it started similarly to map 1. Trance Esports lost the first 4 rounds and then went on to win the next 6. The score at the end of the first half was 6-6. Bilibili Gaming similar to the last game started the second half in quite a dominating fashion winning 5 rounds out of the first 8 rounds. Trance Esports secured the win on this map with a score of 15-13. The player to watch on this map was none other than FengF. He played Raze and had an Average combat score of 287 and a KDA of 28/20/3.

The decided map ie map was played on the map of Bind. If Trace Esports won this map they would have completed a huge reverse sweep. Having the intention of completing this reverse sweep, Trace Esports won 8 out of the first 12 maps in the game. Trace Esports ended the first half with a score of 8-4. Bilibili Gaming won the first two rounds in the second half of the map increasing their lead and putting more pressure on Trance Esports. Finally, Trance Esports woke up from their slumber taking the score to match point with it being 12-11.

Bilibili Gaming got the final round taking the game to overtime. This was when one of the craziest moments in VCT China Esports took place in the last round. The spike was planted and it was a 2-2. FengF and heybay were alive and all they had to do was stay alive and waste time. Both of them go down to B3Ar and Yosemite. The spike is being diffused but it is a little too late as they were 00.13 seconds short on time.  

Trace Esports won the game with a score of 14-12, completing the reverse sweep. In this game, the player to watch was none other than Kai who ended the game with an Average combat score of 322 & a KDA of 29/15/6.