RRQ Claims First Victory in VCT Pacific League After Sweeping DetonatioN FocusMe
Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) finally claimed their first victory in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2023: Pacific League after sweeping DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM) 2-0 in their matchup yesterday, April 8, 2023.
Pictures of the excitement from the boys during our match vs @team_detonation. This marked our first match win in #VCTPacific which can kickstart our season.#StriveForGreatness#VCT#VALORANT pic.twitter.com/FXonMngB4Z
— Team RRQ (@teamrrqofficial) April 8, 2023
Before their first-ever win at VCT 2023: Pacific League, RRQ recorded two losses after being swept by Gen.G and losing a nail-biter series against ZETA DIVISION 2-1.
In their post-DFM match interview, RRQ’s David “xffero” Monangin (formerly known as tehbotoL) revealed they finally got used to playing on a stage and are now playing just like they would usually perform in scrims.
“Our hard work finally pays off,” the Indonesian team captain stated.
RRQ’s sweep against DFM was played on two maps: Haven and Pearl.
“We exactly know where they’re going,” Xffero revealed when asked how RRQ managed to sweep DFM.
The Indonesian-Filipino squad was able to ban two of their weakest maps, Lotus and Fracture, having had a 0% win rate on both maps this year. With DFM banning Icebox and Split, RRQ chose Haven as the first map, DFM went with Pearl, and left Ascent as the decider map.
In the first game at Haven, RRQ dominated the first half of the series as they went 10-2 before halftime. DFM’s slow defaulting allowed RRQ to take up space and make the map smaller to play on. In the end, RRQ only needed to win three more rounds in the second half which they did in just five rounds, ending Haven 13-4.
Meanwhile, in Game 2, RRQ showcased their agent flexibility as Xffero shifted to use Astra while James “2ge” Goopio debuted his Harbor on Pearl. RRQ displayed a great mastery of map control, having won Rounds 1, 4, 7, and 9 through retakes and winning the rest of the first half by trapping DFM and wiping them out. In the game’s second half, RRQ almost lost momentum after DFM called for a timeout on Round 17 and stole three rounds after it. Fortunately, RRQ called for their own timeout on Round 20 which proved to be the correct call as they won the round and therefore won the game 13-7.
RRQ now has a 1-2 record in the VCT 2023: Pacific League and is set to face Team Secret next on Saturday, April 15, 2023.
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