The 2025 HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League is set to make waves in the esports world as the first Riot-approved third-party mid-season tournament since the partnership era began. Scheduled for March 14-18, 2025, in Shanghai, China, this tournament promises to be a thrilling showcase of talent, drawing together tier-one teams from both the Pacific and Chinese regions.
The grand finals will take place at the Jing’an Sports Center, a venue that previously hosted the 2024 Shanghai Esports Masters. This year's tournament will feature six teams in total, with three hailing from the Pacific region: DRX, Paper Rex, and ZETA DIVISION. The three invited Chinese teams are yet to be revealed by Hero Esports, the Shanghai-based organization behind the event.
With a prize pool of up to US$160,000, the 2025 HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League will introduce a unique format that rewards teams for their performance. Each match victory will earn teams US$10,000, with an additional US$10,000 awarded for defeating a higher-seeded opponent. The first-place prize stands at US$50,000, meaning teams can potentially win up to US$140,000 throughout the tournament.
Hero Esports has positioned the HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League (ACL) as the premier and largest international multi-title esports event in Asia, boasting a total prize pool of $2 million. This inaugural ACL will feature nine premier esports titles, including Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Honor of Kings, Street Fighter 6, League of Legends Legend Cup S3, Teamfight Tactics, VALORANT Champions Tour, Delta Force, and CrossFire.
According to Danny Tang, Co-Founder and CEO of Hero Esports, “Hero Esports created the HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League to bridge the gap between international tournaments and regional leagues, providing a clearer pathway for talented teams to compete on the global stage. The ACL’s continued collaboration with the Esports World Cup is an example of this vision becoming a reality, and it also represents Hero Esports’ commitment to shaping and empowering esports globally.”
As the excitement builds for the Asian Champions League, the VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific Mid-Season Playoffs are also heating up. Kickoff champions DRX will meet Masters champions T1 in the opening round, set for April 26-27, 2025, at Seoul’s SOOP Coliseum in Mapo-gu. This matchup is highly anticipated, with DRX arriving unbeaten against T1 in VCT Pacific competition, having swept or edged out their rivals in five straight encounters since the league’s 2023 debut.
This impressive streak includes a 2-0 regular-season victory and a 3-2 lower-bracket final win in 2023, followed by 2-1 margins in both the 2024 regular season and the 2025 Kickoff upper-bracket final, culminating in a 3-2 triumph in the 2025 grand final. However, T1 reclaimed global bragging rights at Masters Bangkok in March, downing DRX in a 2-0 sweep during Swiss Stage Round 3 en route to lifting the trophy.
In addition to the DRX vs. T1 clash, Gen.G will face Talon Esports in the first week of the playoffs. Gen.G enters the playoffs with a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Talon Esports. After dropping their initial 2023 meeting, Gen.G bounced back to win 2-1 in the upper-bracket semifinals, then recorded back-to-back 2-0 sweeps in the 2024 regular season and the 2025 Kickoff lower-bracket Round 4.
Talon heads into this weekend off the momentum of a regular-season upset over T1 that secured second place in the Omega Group. Key figures to watch include DRX’s Song "HYUNMIN" Hyun-min, who led all participants with 247 regular-season kills, and T1’s Yu "BuZz" Byung-chul, whose 216 kills and insider knowledge from his former tenure with DRX add a strategic edge. Talon’s Papaphat "Primmie" Sriprapha also looms as a threat after piling up 44 kills in his team’s regular-season finale.
Upper-bracket victors will face Boom Esports and Rex Regum Qeon on April 27, 2025, in best-of-3 matchups that will determine who remains on the winner’s path toward the Pacific title. As teams prepare for these crucial matches, fans are eager to see if DRX can maintain their dominance over T1 or if T1 will turn the tables in this highly competitive landscape.
The stage is set for an exhilarating series of matches that promise to deliver high-stakes action and showcase the best of VALORANT esports. With both the HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League and the VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific Mid-Season Playoffs on the horizon, the esports community is buzzing with anticipation for what’s to come.
