Riot Games confirmed the four teams advancing to the playoffs following the conclusion of Week 2 of the 2026 VCT Pacific Stage 2 Play-In Stage, held from August 19 to 23 at the Sangam SOOP Colosseum at the S-Plex Center in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

KIWOOM DRX, Nongshim RedForce, and T1, who had fallen to the Play-In Stage after struggling in the Group Stage, secured their playoff spots as expected. KIWOOM DRX was the first of the three to advance; despite finishing last in Group Omega with a 1-4 record during the Group Stage, they bounced back in the Play-In Stage by defeating ONSIDE GAMING 2-0. They then secured their playoff spot by taking down ZETA DIVISION and Challengers SEA's Sharper Esports 2-1 each. In Set 1 against ZETA DIVISION, yong (Kim Ho-yong) led the team to victory with a clutch play, eliminating two opposing players hidden inside a smoke screen as the sole survivor.

Nongshim RedForce advanced to the playoffs after entering Round 2 of the Upper Bracket in the Play-In Stage as Group Alpha's 4th seed, displaying flawless performance without dropping a single set against Team Secret and T1. Executing their signature aggressive strategies at crucial moments proved to be the key to victory. Falling to the Lower Bracket after losing to Nongshim RedForce, T1 secured the final playoff ticket by defeating DetonatioN FocusMe—who had advanced by beating QT DIG∞ and ZETA DIVISION—in Lower Bracket Round 3. DetonatioN FocusMe attempted a comeback led by Akame (Yoo Gwang-hui) and Meiy (Ibuki Seki), but could not overcome the well-rounded performance of T1's roster.

ONSIDE GAMING, participating as Challengers champions, became the only Challengers team to reach the playoffs, keeping their campaign for Champions Shanghai alive. ONSIDE GAMING, who had swept both Split 1 and Split 2 of Challengers Korea, fell to the Lower Bracket after losing 0-2 to KIWOOM DRX in their opening match. However, they reached Lower Bracket Round 3 with consecutive 2-0 sweeps over Team Secret and FULL SENSE, setting up a hard-fought match against Sharper Esports, who had advanced after beating Rex Regum Qeon and DetonatioN FocusMe. After trading Sets 1 and 2, ONSIDE GAMING clinched the victory in a slugfest in Set 3, with key player Ray (Oh Eun-hyuk) driving the team's triumph by logging over 20 kills in both set wins.

With the four teams advancing from the Play-In Stage determined, the playoffs will begin on August 26. A total of eight teams—the top four teams from the Group Stage and the four winners from the Play-In Stage—will face off, with the top four teams earning spots in the VCT Pacific Finals Busan, held over three days from September 4 to 6 at the Sajik Arena in Dongrae-gu, Busan.