Team Secret Ruins Patiphan’s VCT Comeback in Pacific League
Filipino pride Team Secret ruined Patiphan Chaiwong’s long-awaited VALORANT comeback as they beat Talon Esports 2-1 in their first match in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific League.
Adobo gang takes it home 🙌@teamsecret gets their first #VCTPacific W in dominating fashion! pic.twitter.com/P59NKXDiWe
— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) March 26, 2023
It has been 471 days since Patiphan last saw action in the VCT stage, with his last appearance being his quarterfinals exit at Champions 2021 when he was still with X10 Esports. Patiphan could’ve debuted in VCT LOCK//IN but was unable to do so due to a required surgery on his injury-laden wrist.
Fortunately, Patiphan was able to recover just in time for the Pacific League and played the first two maps in their eventual matchup loss against Team Secret.
Adobo Gang Wins Matchup Against Talon
Team Secret bested Talon Esports 2-1 in their first matchup ever since the two teams’ core players last met in the VCT Asia-Pacific Stage 2: Challengers Playoffs.
Apparently, Jessie “JessieVash” Cuyco didn’t put too many expectations on the team as they were still adjusting to South Korea.
“The expectations are not too high since we are still adjusting to our setup in [our] Korean boot camp,” the team captain for Team Secret noted. “The weather is pretty cold for us,” he added.
Fortunately, the Adobo Gang shrugged off the cold as they went in hot for Game 1 on Ascent, taking the map away from Talon 13-5. During the game, Jayvee “DubsteP” Paguirigan dashed back to his signature Jett while Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera picked Killjoy, a move JessieVash justified in the post-match interview as they thought the Operator meta will see a resurgence this season and revealed that Jremy, despite his absolute crispy aim, doesn’t play with the gun that much.
Meanwhile, for Talon, Patiphan instalocked on an Ascent Sage as he aimed for the cheeky walls on the map which allowed Apiwat “garnetS” Apiraksukumal to go for Jett instead.
The Ascent game initially started close, with Secret going for back-to-back flawless rounds to start the game and Talon responding with a flawless round of their own in Round 4 to keep it close. However, Secret proved to be the better team on the map as they went ahead and closed the first half 8-4 in their favor.
TONDO GAMING @Secret_Jremy 🔪
📺 https://t.co/h4MPtwXkRl#VCTPacific pic.twitter.com/CZ0Qv8b3gc
— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) March 26, 2023
The game’s momentum was perpetually skewed towards Team Secret, with Jremy even getting a Tondo Gaming moment as he knifed Thanamethk “Crws” Mahatthananuyut to end the pistol round of the second half. By Round 17, Secret took the game’s matchpoint and left Talon’s economy in shambles, forcing the Thai squad to go for a mishmash of Ares, Marshall, and Stingers that was exploited by Secret to draw first blood in the best-of-three series.
Unfortunately, Secret was met with a vengeful Talon squad in their map pick, Icebox, and lost the game by a 13-8 scoreline.
Team Secret’s lineup for the map featured no duelists as they opted for Jremy on Sage, DubsteP on Killjoy, JessieVash on his signature Sova, Adrian Jiggs “invy” Reyes on KAY/O, and Jim “BORKUM” Timbreza on Viper. Meanwhile, Talon subbed out Jittana “JitBoyS” Nokngam for Panyawat “Sushiboys” Subsiriroj and still refused Patiphan of his Jett as he went for Harbor instead.
As if their Game 1 loss was just a case of the yips, a revitalized Talon punished Team Secret early on in the game, limiting the Filipino squad to just winning three rounds to end the first half 9-3.
Unreaaaaaal @Secret_invy 😱
📺 https://t.co/h4MPtwXkRl#VCTPacific pic.twitter.com/HdGj4qevqb
— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) March 26, 2023
After losing the starting two rounds in the second half, Invy, who was the hero of the map for Team Secret during the second half, reignited Secret’s indomitable Pinoy spirit by recording an Ace in Round 15 which then led to a three-round win streak before getting shut down by a Talon matchpoint in Round 18.
It's @Secret_BORKUM ⌚ #VCTPacific pic.twitter.com/IsF0mzbTq6
— VALORANT Champions Tour Pacific (@vctpacific) March 26, 2023
Secret then activated Borkum time on Round 19, flanking Talon to eliminate Sushiboys and Itthirit “foxz” Ngamsaard and winning a one-versus-one duel against Patiphan to extend their lifeline to two more rounds. Unfortunately, Secret fumbled the last round and lost to a Talon eco that only had four Sheriffs and a lone Stinger to aggressively take Game 2 away.
With both teams one game apiece, Team Secret managed to pulverize Talon in Fracture 13-3.
The first two rounds were incredibly fast before it slowed down in Round 3. However, Secret managed to overpower Talon’s buy round with just mere Spectres in hand and proceeded to commit to a nine-round win streak in the first half. Eventually, the streak had to end and Team Secret lost Round 10 after they failed to defend the spike in post-plant from Talon and lost the next round as well. Thankfully, Secret won the last round of the first half to make it 10-2 in their favor and they fended off Talon in the second half, only dropping a single round and closing the series out with a dominant performance.
As of the end of the first week of matches, Team Secret sits atop of the Pacific League standings along with the other winning teams, namely DRX, Paper Rex, and T1. Their next opponent would be Paper Rex, which JessieVash considers the team to beat in all of Southeast Asia.
“We’re very excited to play Play Paper Rex,” JessieVash stated. “They’re [always] our opponent in Southeast Asia. They’re the team to beat in Southeast Asia without DRX.”
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