The VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs brought out the best of Southeast Asia Valorant with Masters 1 Champions X10 coming out on top once again.

But while only one team will be going to Iceland for Masters: Reykjavik, plenty of other players shone brightly over the weekend.

In this article, we look behind some of VCT SEA’s best plays, and asked the players themselves what went on behind the scenes.

5. An unexpected flank from a Pirate

There were a lot of unexpected things with 6045 Pirates. For one, they didn’t expect to get as far as they did in the VCT SEA Playoffs. For another, they didn’t expect to win this round, moreover this series, versus NXL Ligagame.

According to Coach Zyki, they were only prioritizing a plant for extra money, but Firesyjn made the call to rotate.

“I walled, but I went in the wall towards elbow,” said Firesyjn. “I fought the Sova there, and I was able to kill him and get a gun. My teammates were able to help stall, a bit of time for me to be able to wrap around the whole spawn. I was able to get a kill on the revived guy and killed the Phoenix next. We were able to close it out. We basically stole that round.”

It might not seem like a lot, but did you know these guys were playing from a comp shop the entire time?

4. Paper Rex’s benkai gets the perfect lineup

With a 12-1 score in favor of Paper Rex, we expected a win, but we didn’t expect it would happen like this.

It might not be immediately obvious, but that lineup was a prime example of how powerful Astra plays can be.

“We were screaming for mindfreak to use the Gravity Well,” Paper Rex’s Tommy said. “So when mindfreak used the suck, benkai was in position to get a lineup. That was pretty cool. You guys might not have seen the Gravity Well, but that was the most important part.”

3. Paper Rex’s mindfreak lockdown gamble

Another big brain play from Paper Rex! This might look like one of those lucky meme-y accidents, but would you believe it was all according to plan?

“Before the game, we watched how X10 plays,” mindfreak told ONE Esports. “Every time they have ult with Killjoy, I always got caught. So before the match, we discussed. I said, ‘If Killjoy has ult, I’m going to stay right here and you guys split for me.’ It was preplanned. Luckily, they didn’t check me, and I got three kills.”

Knowing that makes this play even better!

2. This clean Ace from Full Sense PTC

Sometimes, there’s no rhyme or reason. Pro players wake up on the right side of the bed and come ready to play. Feeling good does wonders in-game, as you can tell in this crispy, clean ace from Full Sense’s PTC.

“I was just feeling myself there,” says PTC. “My team called that they [Paper Rex] were coming in B, through the smoke, and then boom, boom, boom!”

1. Patiphan’s air support for X10

The newest member on the roster helped X10 book their tickets to Iceland, doing wonders as an entry fragger for the team. To be honest, we had a hard time picking out one play from Patiphan since a good number of his plays pretty much looked this cool.

“Jett walked into my crosshair, so I got one,” said Patiphan. “And the rest – the second, third, fourth – I just felt like I should go for it. So I did.”

When you have players this good, sometimes there’s no strategy behind the play. Just pure instinct and talent.

READ MORE: Complete match results for the VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs