The top six VALORANT teams of the Pacific season are already known, but DRX need to win one more to lock in a direct bye to the upper-bracket semifinal. For DetonatioN FocusMe, victory or defeat won’t change anything.

After going 1-4 in Stage 1, the Japanese squad’s only victory in Stage 2 so far came against ZETA DIVISION. With 0-2 losses against Rex Regum Qeon, Talon Esports, and Paper Rex, they are well off the pace in Group Omega.

DRX had one questionable game against RRQ in the second week, but besides that, they’ve been one of the more consistent teams in the league. Don’t expect any surprises on Saturday.

Even though ZETA DIVISION are out of the VALORANT Champions Tour playoff race, they’ve shown some good things over the last three weeks. ZETA took a map from DRX at the start of the stage and played a fairly solid series against Rex Regum Qeon last week.

Talon Esports have managed two wins so far, against RRQ and DetonatioN FocusMe, which is hardly inspiring. And even though they’ve won six of nine games played across the two stages, that run includes some close calls against weaker teams.

If DRX defeat DeotnatioN FocusMe, this match will mean nothing for Talon Esports, which is one more reason to back the underdogs to take a map.

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DetonatioN FocusMe are 1-1 in VCT 2024 Pacific Stage 2 with a loss to Rex Regum Qeon and a reverse-sweep victory against ZETA DIVISION. This is a tiny sample size of games, but we saw how unconvincing DetonatioN FocusMe were in Stage 1, which they finished with five consecutive losses.

Talon Esports have been holding on well this season, and they’ve not looked terrible so far in Stage 2. Talon lost to Paper Rex in two maps in Week 1 but had an excellent performance against Rex Regum Qeon last week, proving they’re still a very competent team.

As the VALORANT betting odds suggest, it’ll take a huge blunder from Talon Esports for this match to be even close. Even at $1.58, they’re a solid pick to sweep the unconvincing DetonatioN FocusMe.

Having already lost to DRX and DetonatioN FocusMe, ZETA DIVISION should have no business securing their first victory in Stage 2 of the VALORANT Champions Tour on Saturday. They showed very little in Stage 1, with just two wins against Global Esports and Bleed Esports.

Rex Regum Qeon, on the other hand, are in a fine spot. They defeated DetonatioN FocusMe in the first week and added a huge 2-0 sweep of DRX on Monday, improving their overall record to 5-3.

Those results alone are a good enough indication that RRQ are a significantly stronger team than ZETA DIVISION, which should show on Saturday.

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After a promising start to the 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour, T1 find themselves in a tough spot ahead of Tuesday’s clash. With three defeats against Paper Rex, DetonatioN FocusMe and DRX, they rank last in Group Alpha with just three games left to catch up.

Rex Regum Qeon are in a much better spot after winning their last two series against Team Secret and BLEED Esports. And while they had to dig deep to make it past Secret, RRQ performed admirably against BLEED, winning the series with a combined round record of 26-7.

T1 are still a capable lineup, which explains why they’re priced as favourites for this match; however, recent form suggests the teams should be priced much closer to even money, so Rex Regum Qeon to win at $2.75 with GG Bet is an excellent offer.

With a 0-2 record, BLEED Esports must start winning if they wish to end Group Alpha in the top three. So far in VCT 2024 Pacific Stage 1, they have already lost to Talon Esports and Rex Regum Qeon, and while they took a map from Talon, BLEED have not shown much.

ZETA DIVISION are 1-1 after two weeks of action, with a 2-1 victory against Global Esports and a 1-2 loss against Team Secret. That record is an underwhelming outcome for the Japanese side, although it’s not like ZETA DIVISION were ever considered a strong VCT Pacific team.

At $2.25 with the top esports betting sites, ZETA DIVISION are expected to struggle against BLEED Esports. However, this is a 50-50 match at best, so we’ll side with the underdogs at plus money.

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This development comes on the heels of hints at roster adjustments made in August, as the team initiated applications and considered try outs for potential new additions.

While this marks the end of an era for ZETA DIVISION, there remains a glimmer of hope for some players who may stage a comeback if certain deals do not materialize.

ZETA DIVISION previously boasted a VALORANT roster that included notable talents such as Koji “Laz” Ushida, who served as the in-game leader, and Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe, a rising star at just 20 years old.

The past year has been a disappointing one for the team, as they faced eliminations in various VALORANT events.

Despite their struggles throughout the season in the Pacific League, where they finished fourth, they managed to secure a spot at Champions through the Chance Qualifier.

However, their performance at VALORANT Champions fell short of expectations, with consecutive losses to FNATIC and NRG Esports.

These underwhelming results seem to be driving the changes that could potentially reshape the future of ZETA DIVISION’s VALORANT roster.

Reportedly, ZETA DIVISION, competing in the VCT Pacific side, is now open to offers for all of its VALORANT players as part of a roster reshuffling process for the upcoming 2024 season.

According to reports from Blix.gg, the Japanese organization is actively exploring offers for its VALORANT players during the off-season.

Interestingly, all six players on ZETA DIVISION, along with head coach Hibiki ‘XQQ’ Motoyama, have contracts in place until the end of 2026, as indicated by the VCT Global Contract Database.

ZETA DIVISION’s disappointing season saw them miss VCT Masters: Tokyo, a significant event for Japanese VALORANT, and finish at the bottom of their group at VALORANT Champions 2023 after defeats to Fnatic and NRG.

In the pursuit of a more successful 2024, ZETA DIVISION has already initiated an application process for their VALORANT roster, with a clear aim of triumphing in the VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific League and VALORANT Champions.

They are actively seeking players with a Radiant rank who can communicate fluently in Japanese, emphasizing their commitment to revitalizing their team’s fortunes in the upcoming season.

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Bilibili Gaming enters VALORANT Champions 2023 as complete outsiders, priced at $301.00 on the outright betting markets. This makes sense, considering BLG hails from a weak region and their lack of accomplishments this season.

But Bilibili Gaming found traction in May when they reached the finals of FGC Valorant Invitational 2023: Act 2 and claimed another silver medal last month at VALORANT Champions Tour 2023: China Qualifier. In both finals, Bilibili Gaming lost against EDward Gaming, who looked surprisingly good at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, so perhaps Bilibili Gaming are better than it seems.

NRG Esports enter VALORANT Champions 2023 as dangerous underdogs, but they are not a team anyone would consider a serious threat to winning the whole thing. NRG kicked off the season with a top-eight finish at VCT 2023: LOCK//IN S?o Paulo, added a runner-up finish at the Americas League, and placed fourth at VCT 2023: Masters Tokyo, with just two defeats against Fnatic (0-2) and Paper Rex (1-2).

However, even though NRG Esports are probably one of the top-five teams at VALORANT Champions 2023, having them priced at $1.10 for this match is a bit too much. Not only is this their first match of the tournament, but NRG Esports have also yet to face Bilibili Gaming, which could lead to a unique problem of NRG struggling to prepare for this bout properly.

The Value is with the Chinese squad with a map advantage. A smaller position on Bilibili Gaming to win is worth considering as well.

Fnatic and ZETA DIVISION have yet to meet this season, but we don’t need past results to know how this game should end. Fnatic are the clear favourites to win the title and collect their third international trophy, and considering how dominant Jake “Boaster” Howlett and his crew have been this season, it just might happen.

Fnatic are the most dominant team we’ve seen in Valorant esports history, having won all but one (20-1) series they’ve played since the turn of the year. Their only defeat came in the VCT 2023: EMEA League finals, when Fnatic lost against Team Liquid (1-3), yet even that was a complete fluke.

ZETA DIVISION have not come even close to accomplishing as much as Fnatic this season, and they’ve only made it to the world championship due to their late resurgence at VCT 2023: Pacific Last Chance Qualifier. Before that, ZETA finished the VCT 2023: Pacific League in fifth-sixth place, and they crashed out of the VCT 2023: LOCK//IN S?o Paulo in the first round.

Since this is the first match of the tournament, there is a world where Fnatic don’t look as dominant as they could. Still, considering how much better Fnatic are, it’s fair to expect a very one-sided series.

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Leviatan will come into their first series of the VCT LOCK//IN as heavy favourites against ZETA DIVISION after winning two smaller competitions on their way to a six-match win streak. The current Leviatan roster is still a relatively new roster after four of the five players were only signed in October and November of last year. However, the South American roster has been in great form and they will be bringing a lot of confidence into their first series of the LOCK//IN.

Their opponents, ZETA DIVISION, had somewhat of a successful 2022 finishing third at the VCT 2022 Stage 1 Masters Reykjavik after they made it all the way to the lower-bracket final, but went down to Optic Gaming 0-3. Since the Stage 1 Masters, ZETA DIVISION have been inconsistent winning three of their last eight series, including losing two of their three series at the VCT Champions 2022.

This series should be closer than the betting suggests and ZETA DIVISION shouldn’t be underrated; therefore, we will be taking overs in the total maps market.

The second series we will be focusing on will be between two teams that are competing at their first S-Tier Valorant event in their short history.

Global Esports have been dominating in the lower tiers of Valorant through across India and the Asia-Pacific region; however, their wins in B- and C-Tier events may not match up to the standard that they will need to win a series at an S-Tier event like the LOCK//IN. GE haven’t played an official competitive Valorant series since November of last year, so they will be coming into this with limited match practice.

Team Vitality ended their 2022 season with third-fourth placings at both the G-Loot Valorant Clash Grand Finals and the Red Bull Home Ground #3. The international roster has been very consistent, not finishing outside of the top four at their last three A-Tier tournaments, which is much better form than their opponents in this upcoming series. Vitality are deserving favourites in this series and they should be winning.

The last of our previewed series will feature another two teams who will be participating in their first S-Tier event, with FUT Esports taking on Rex Regum Qeon.

FUT Esports ended their 2022 season with a seventh-eighth place finish at Red Bull Home Ground #3 and 9th-16th place at G-Loot Valorant Clash Grand Finals. The Turkish roster has been winning a lot of A- and B-Tier events in Turkey but they have struggled when playing internationally, so this will be a good test for them first up against Rex Regum Qeon.

Rex Regum Qeon have been competing in B and C-Tier events throughout the Asia-Pacific region and at their two A-Tier events they have finished in 9th-12th place and fifth-sixth place, showing that they struggle to compete at that level of competition. Now that they are stepping up to participate in their first S-Tier event, we expect them to struggle – even if they are meeting another S-Tier debutant.

This series looks to FUT Esports’ for the taking, so we will be backing them in win the series 2-0.

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ZETA DIVISION, just like every other partnered team, has been using this off-season to its fullest in order to construct a formidable Valorant team in preparation for 2033 VCT. Although the organization has undergone almost no significant change in the run-up to VCT 2023.

According to what was disclosed by the organization on Monday, the roster will consist of:

● Yuma “Dep” Hashimoto
● Koji “Laz” Ushida
● Tomoaki “crow” Maruoka
● Shota “SugarZ3ro” Watanabe
● Tenta “TENNN” Asai
● Ryo “barce” Takebayashi
● Sawada “JUNiOR” Yuya (Coach)
● Hibiki “XQQ” Motoyama (Coach)

ZETA DIVISION have maintained their core roster by retaining their coaching crew, which includes JUNiOR and XQQ, as well as analyst gya9. Since the year 2020, they have been the driving force behind the success of the team, so in the future, it is anticipated that they will continue to provide the same degree of direction for them.

On the other hand, players such as Dep, TENNN, crow, and SugarZ3ro and Laz are also among the players that were retained. Crow and Laz are the oldest members of the team, having joined in 2020 when the squad was first being assembled. In December 2021, ZETA DIVISION purchased SugarZ3ro and TENN from Northception. During the same time period, DEP was also purchased, but from REJECT.

The only change that was made by the organization was bringing in Detonation Gaming player Brace as a sixth and substitute player.

This is because the guidelines for the 2023 VCT stipulate that each team have either a sixth player or a substitute. There should be a minimum of six players on the VCT 2023 roster, with ten people being the maximum number that can be on a roster.

In 2020, the seasoned player, barce, became a member of the ZETA DIVISION roster for the very first time. However, a year later he made the switch to streaming, and subsequently he was moved to the Detonation Gaming White roster.

Barce’s primary duty on his previous team was that of a Controller; however, his current position on the team as a substitute may require him to take on a more flexible role.

While Crow and SugarZ3ro will continue to adhere to their more rigid duties, Laz, TENN, and Dep will be in charge of providing flex functions for the team. Laz performs both the Initiator and Controller roles, whereas TENN and Dep are known to play the Duelist and Initiator roles, respectively.

This year, the Japanese national team was one of the few teams from the region to achieve any level of success. They defeated Crazy Raccoon in the finals of VCT Stage One in Japan with a score of 3-1, which allowed them to move on to Stage One Masters in Reykjavik.

ZETA DIVISION had an historic performance in Iceland, where they finished in third place, despite being eliminated by OpTic Gaming in the lower bracket final with a score of 0-3. In Istanbul, they put up a noble effort but were ultimately defeated twice by LOUD, who went on to win the tournament.

The roster’s first official appearance will be in the 2023 VCT 2023 Kickoff Tournament, which is scheduled to begin in February. This tournament will feature 30 partnered teams from different regions. Some of which are top esports teams like Evil Geniuses, Cloud9, Team Liquid, Sentinels, Gen. G and a host of others. The victorious squad will receive an automatic berth in Masters 2023 as well as an additional spot in the league for which they typically compete.

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A month ago, ZETA DIVISION started to recruit female players to compete in the Valorant Game Changers event in East Asia, in order to make it to the final event held in November in Berlin. The search was initiated on June 15, and after many weeks of tryouts, the organization decided to sign five rising stars: flappy, Airi “romia” Sugiyama, aco, suzu, and Sarina “Moco” Kawashima.

After the search, ZETA DIVISION officially announced on July 27 that it will be entering the VALORANT Game Changers scene with a women’s roster. The gender of flappy was questioned when the team’s signing was publicized on Twitter.

Following this, ZETA DIVISION took to their official Twitter platform to address and defend flappy’s gender. According to the organization, flappy sees herself as a woman who has transitioned into a different gender and is currently undergoing the appropriate hormone therapy in order to comply with the requirements set by Riot Games in order to compete. ZETA DIVISION also said that it had flappy’s consent to release the information and that it believed that it was important as a means of putting an end to the rumors that were circulating about their squad.

“Flappy, who belongs to the?VALORANT?GC department, which is the origin of the rumor, is a transgender woman who goes to the hospital and takes hormones in order to become a body that matches her gender identity,” said ZETA DIVISION.

“In addition, a medical certificate from a doctor has been issued, and we have confirmed it in advance.”

In April of 2020, ZETA DIVISION became a part of VALORANT. Previously, the team was known as JUPITER. Since the beginning of the game, ZETA’s male roster has established itself as one of the most successful teams in Japan, having taken first place in both the Japanese Ignition Series and the First Strike Japan tournaments.

This coming Saturday, the first round of the VCT 2022 Game Changers Japan Open Qualifiers will get underway. This will be the ZETA DIVISION women’s team’s very first national VALORANT competition.

According to the official statement released by the team, “As the women’s ZETA DIVISION team, we will do all in our best to deliver exciting games.”

There will be a total of 32 teams competing against one another in an effort to get into the top four and compete in the main event. Following the one-day qualifiers, the VCT 2022 Game Changers Japan will start on August 6 and continue through August 7. In this round, the top four Japanese teams will compete against one another for the first two berths in the Game Changers East Asia tournament.

The ZETA DIVISION will be the team to represent the area in Berlin in the late autumn if it is successful in winning that event. The prize pool for the VCT Game Changers Japan competition is 1 million Japanese yen, which is equivalent to more than US$7,000.

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Following a month-long trial period, the team has finally found the quality of players it set out to attain. ZETA DIVISION had opened a search for a female team on June 15, which led to the acquisition of aco, Sarina “Moco” Kawashima, Airi “romia” Sugiyama, and flappy. The new recruits will join suzu, who was acquired from Shikou Kouketsu on June 22, 2022, to make their first debut in the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Game Changers Japan, which is scheduled to commence on August 7 and end the next day.

The organization’s press release read:

“ZETA DIVISION is pleased to announce that four new members, aco, Moco, romia, and flappy, will join the VALORANT GC division.

The team was established to create a diverse competition scene where everyone can play an equally active role by utilizing the experience and knowledge of the VALORANT division, which has fought in the world so far.

Together with suzu, these four people will participate in ” 2022 VALORANT Champions Tour Game Changers Japan” to create a more diverse community. Thank you for your warm support for aco, Moco, romia, and flappy, who are new members of ZETA DIVISION.”

The tournament will commence with an open qualifier, which will see the top four teams earn a share of the $7,236 USD prize pool. The top two franchises will be invited to compete in the Game Changers East Asia circuit. According to the team’s press release, Game Changers will be the first female national Valorant tournament in Japan.

One East Asian team will advance to the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Game Changers Championship, scheduled to take place later this year. The tournament, which will be held in Berlin, will begin on November 11 and come to an end on November 15.

Teams from all over the world will come together to compete to become the world’s best Game Changers team and champions of the world. Two North American teams will secure slots for the tournament, as will teams from Brazil, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC.

Teams from all over the world will compete to become the world’s best Game Changers team. Two North American teams will qualify for the tournament, while teams from Brazil, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC will also attend.

The male team from ZETA DIVISION finished third at VCT Masters Reykjavik but did not qualify for VCT Masters Copenhagen, which was won by FunPlus Phoenix.

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