Team Secret miss out on Masters Copenhagen after rematch loss to XERXIA Esports
Team Secret missed out on Masters Copenhagen after they lost to XERXIA Esports 2-1 in a thrilling rematch at the lower bracket finals of the VALORANT Challengers Tour (VCT) 2022 APAC Stage 2 Playoffs.
Our APAC journey ends here. So close yet so far.
Salamat mga kabayan sa supporta 🤍🖤 🇵🇭#SecretValo #ItLiesWithin pic.twitter.com/q0j6lCEi2t
— Team Secret (@teamsecret) June 26, 2022
Dominance On XERXIA’s Haven
Team Secret started well on XERXIA’s map pick and won commandingly on Haven 13-3. They capitalized on starting as attackers which led to a steamroll of a game.
Team Secret started the game with a 5-round win streak before they let XERXIA on the board and only allowed them to get a mere total of three rounds in the entire first half (and game). From there, they proceeded to win just four more rounds in the second half to take first blood in the series.
Although behind Jayvee “DubsteP” Paguirigan and Jessie “JessieVash” Cuyco in terms of kills, Kevin “dispenser” Te was the star of the show as he made as many impactful frags and plays to keep the momentum in his team’s favor.
A Close Game On Ascent
After their dominant show on the previous map, Team Secret lost to XERXIA on Ascent in a close 10-13 scoreline.
Despite being red-hot the previous game, Team Secret made the peculiar yet interesting choice of subbing out Dispenser in favor of their sixth-man Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera. Although Jremy still made a noticeable impact as he increased the firepower of the team, Team Secret was unable to handle the monsters of XERXIA: Thanachart “Surf” Rungapajaratkul and Nutchapon “sScary” Matarat.
In the end, Team Secret was dismantled by XERXIA on a thrifty last round when Surf dashed in and killed both JessieVash and Riley “Witz” Go on B Site, forcing them to do an impossible retake that they ultimately failed at.
Team Secret Gets Stomped At Icebox
Team Secret lost the third game on Icebox 8-13.
Team Secret’s lack of info-gathering initiators, besides JessieVash’s Sova, caused the team to overheat and dangerously peek for information. This was immensely exploited by XERXIA as the B Site was repeatedly hit over and over again. Team Secret also had the tendency to lose on eco rounds, which started from the second game, which made it even harder for the Filipino representatives to win rounds. Signs of hope came to Team Secret as they casually won four rounds to try and catch up in the second half but it all flickered away as XERXIA outshined them.
Unfortunately for the Filipino squad, Team Secret’s loss meant that they exit the tournament in 3rd place and are unable to qualify for Masters Copenhagen. Meanwhile, XERXIA Esports and Paper Rex are still the APAC representatives for Masters Copenhagen and are set to face each other at the VCT 2022 Stage 2 APAC Grand Finals.
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