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VLR Community Cup APAC returns for its 13th season, with 14 teams full of fresh rosters, familiar faces, and new challengers fighting for a trophy. With rivalries and storylines carrying over from Season 12, and with new blood toughening up the competition, this season will prove to be another banger.
This article will quickly go through the season's format, then preview the teams, and go over the APAC staff's power rankings.
Season format
Season 13 arrives with a similar format to the previous season. 14 teams are split into two groups of 7. Matches are a best-of-3, with teams playing against each other once for a total of 6 games. The top 3 teams qualify to playoffs, while the #4 and #5 seeds play each other once again in play-ins.
The biggest change in this season will be the Playoffs format. Moving away from the regional VCT-style format, playoffs will no longer have byes for the #1 seed, BUT the #1 and #2 seeds will be able to choose their opponents (from the lower seeds). Playoffs will still be double elimination, and the winners will be crowned the VCC APAC Season 13 champions.
Meet the teams
Group A
Mane 6 (M6)
Ken returns with one goal in mind: finally claiming his first VCC title.
After another tough 3rd place finish with MLK last season, Ken has took it upon himself to build a new roster, bringing in a mix of familiar faces. Leading the charge alongside him are Dirt, fresh off his ACC title with Hong Kong, and kizukii, the record-maker who placed 4th last season with FOIDS. The duo will look to form a dangerous one-two punch for the new roster. Joining them are former MLK teammates ab4yfx and Jam, giving Ken some familiarity as they reunite for hopefully another title run.
Will Ken get lucky with his Mane 6 in his 6th season in APAC? Or will the luck crumble with him in Season 13?
RS (RS)
The RS Barrel core is back, this time competing under a new name as only RS, fully dropping the 'barrel'.
Team leader Bek returns alongside the Season 12 Rookie of the Season winner jackyes37, and zxbo, with the trio looking to build on a run that saw them only narrowly making it of groups last season. The pair have committed to a full Mongolian lineup, bringing in kiseki, who recently competed with them in the ACC, alongside several new faces in xanax and the bus to complete the roster.
After numerous shortcomings and preseason #1 rankings, can Bek and the horde take the next step? Because this team certainly has all the makings of a dark horse.
Bangbang Sauce (BANG)
This seven-man stack full of new players is ready to explode on to the scene.
They are led by Filipino player Blindside, who will be their IGL. Chrono, TOBI, tzyn, GojoE, yunosmiley, and valt complete the roster. With seven players, expect versatility and chemistry from this team.
Entering new territory in VCC, can BANG start off with a bang?
Niche Community (NC)
Filipino duo makonoodles and wolkzbin are back with a vengeance after placing 5th-6th last season with RH, with a new team powered by all kinds of niche.
makonoodles looks to finally get in a deep run, after seasons of heartbreak. wolkzbin looks to redeem himself as well, now with existing chemistry alongside boujee. They are supported by new Persia, another Filipino, and czeroi, who rounds out the roster coming all the way from Australia.
Having a community is nice, but can the niche be enough to conquer everyone?
FUN Esports (FUN)
v1nce and OrangeKatsu team up once again for the first time since Season 10, ready to bring the fun for everyone.
v1nce returns to VCC after his last appearance in the aforementioned season, while OrangeKatsu looks to reach the playoffs once more after a 2-season drought. They are joined by wouper, a new player who is an early contender for the Rookie of the Season (ROS) award*, boasting the highest rating out of all new signups this season. Coldbrew reunites with OrangeKatsu after playing together in Season 11, and Sholmes returns to VCC as well after a hiatus.
Fun and games aside, can the veteran duo bring it home this season, especially with some solid pieces to help them out?
Noob Minds (NM)
Two-time Group Stage MVP iongers is back with a fresh roster, looking to carry his momentum from an ACC victory into the new VCC season.
Joining him is fellow Hong Kong player xiaobuwor, forming a familiar duo as the Rest of SEA pairing of enoki and hamza provide additional support. Completing the starting five is Flam, who had a stint with RS last season and now looks to come back strong. The roster also boasts a dangerous sixth man/sub in trainedturtle, who enters the season as the highest rated player.
With MVP pedigree, proven veterans of the game, and an ace waiting in the wings, the pressure will be on iongers to finally turn individual success into a championship run.
Team Verity (VRT)
Verity's neither from Minecraft nor Backrooms, because in this season, they're from VCC!!
Team Verity are led by runaway, fresh off playing for team Malaysia in ACC and his last season with LARP, and iceman, another ROS award contender. They are joined by the duo signup hachiware and Soulless, with skool rounding out the roster.
They know it all. They know the capital of France. They know what the cow says. But will they know how to conquer VCC?
Group B
Swag's Chickenchop Shop (SCS)
Reigning Finals MVP qwert returns to the server looking to run the gauntlet once again, this time alongside a mix of old foes and new teammates.
Team Malaysia players PhantomPiez (ACC Finals MVP) and swagmeister make their return to the VCC scene after a few seasons, while former MLK and ML players alody and nathe (who was previously thought to be retired) complete the starting five. On the bench, super sub Moriko provides additional firepower.
With qwert chasing back-to-back titles and nathe looking for his fourth APAC trophy, SCS enters Season 13 bringing plenty of momentum with them.
ShyBoys (SHY)
The ShyBoys have arrived, but if we're talking about competition, they're far from shy.
Sinon and Kaizo, who played for team Philippines (the former also playing last season for RH), look to take names with a well-rounded roster of max, Ryoziar, and Dioxide, with all three being newcomers to VCC.
G3 Esports (G3)
Reports say the G2 we know and love will cease to exist at the end of the year, but we all know they're just getting ready for G3 Esports to take over.
Similar to SHY, G3 consists of k1t, a veteran VCC player and another team Philippines player, and 4 rookies in Voltrick, Fritz, el pistolero, and trentglazer.
But will this glaze be enough to translate into the game, or will they have their own Paper Rex in VCC?
rats (xdd)
Robed and rainer have decided to turn the page heading into Season 13, cutting the old and bringing in the new after their deep run to the Grand Finals last season.
zunxxzin and GMT2 bring playoff experience to the squad, both having made playoffs in Season 11 with IR and XBW respectively. Rounding out the roster is Niko, who recently teamed up with Robed and rainer for team Singapore in ACC. Niko also competed with NEPO last season, being able to make it through play-ins.
With Robed and rainer leading another squad, will they be able to relive their glory, or is it just a flash in the pan?
Marin's Men (MM)
A fresh five enters this season, with SHQRIN, the only player with prior VCC experience, bringing a roster full of rookies hungry to make their mark.
Aeru and sleepy headline the roster as the potential breakout stars, with the latter also being an early candidate for the Rookie of the Season award. Rounding out the lineup are Zaisagi and bmo baby, with the former being the only Malaysian in this all-Indonesian lineup.
Four rookies. One opportunity. Can Marin’s Men make some noise this season?
Random Idiots on X (RIX)
Not sponsored by Elon Musk, but RIX arrive in Season 13 as a dark horse team that must be on everybody's radars.
Already you can spot two familiar names in CMNT (formerly known as SirBennedict and RBK), who placed 4th last season with FOIDS, and cruzz, currently playing in VCC OCE under Atlas. They are joined by m0rningU, void, whyuszx, and OG player Kk0bra, forming a 6 man team providing depth to the roster.
The old and new guard come together, but will it be enough to ratio everyone?
Fububu's Kittens (FBK)
Another roster full of newcomers, FBK is here to meow and purr over everyone's bodies.
They are led by Fuwa, a familiar face in the VCC scene, but only playing on a main roster for the first time. Supporting him are kamui, Yukii, Chervilious, Ash, and naru, completing another 6 man roster. With prior chemistry, this team looks to be a strong contender to win Group B.
The APAC Staff Team's power rankings
We collected each staff member's own power rankings based on their personal assessments of the teams and aggregated them into a consensus ranking:
Group A
- Noob Minds
- Mane 6
- RS
- Bangbang Sauce
- Team Verity
- Niche Community
- FUN Esports
Group B
- Fububu's Kittens
- Swag's Chickenchop Shop
- rats
- Random Idiots on X
- Marin's Men
- ShyBoys
- G3 Esports
Catch the first game of VCC APAC Season 13 (Niche Community vs Noob Minds) tonight, 9:30 SGT.
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