Dragon Ranger Gaming wins opener at VCT Threshold China

Dragon Ranger Gaming began VCT Threshold China with a 2-0 win over Rare Atom. The first-week match of the best-of-three series started at 12:00 UK time. The event is being played at THE HUB Performing Arts Center and runs until 1 November.

The result went against the rankings. Dragon Ranger Gaming, ranked 208th with an Elo rating of 1461, has 49 wins and 54 losses in 103 rated matches. Rare Atom, ranked 74th, had 1622 points and 22 wins in 33 matches. Rare Atom picked Summit, and Dragon Ranger Gaming picked Lotus. Summit finished in 46 minutes and Lotus in 48. The deciding map, Sunset, was not needed.

The stakes were high for Dragon Ranger Gaming. The team had guest team status in VCT China, but according to Sheep Esports it was not included among the region's partners for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. The number of partner teams will drop from ten to eight in this period. FunPlus Phoenix, Nova Esports, Titan Esports Club and Wolves Esports lost their partnerships.

The first-week bracket features five VCT China teams and seven national teams. The winner will earn a spot in VCT China for 2027. The first week is played from 21 October to 25 October in a single-match elimination format, and the second week begins on 27 October. First-week losers face a playoff in the second week, so Rare Atom has not been eliminated.

The other first-round matches also ended 2-0. Unsettled Resentment beat Octagonal Disposition Gaming, Any Questions Gaming beat World Sports Invictus Gaming, and Wolves Esports beat A Team.