Filipino Valorant player Adrian Jiggs “invy” Reyes and his team Paper Rex have finally secured their first win against Team Secret in the history of Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific – coincidentally Reyes’ former team.
After a dominant display in the Team Secret’s map pick Breeze where Paper Rex cruised to a 13-4 victory, the W Gaming Express seemed to have lost its momentum as Team Secret took an early game lead at 9-3 at the half. But Reyes and his teammates were able to keep their cool and secure enough rounds to not only force overtime but break the team’s losing streak against the Filipino organization.
“I think it’s just invy. We just stole [Team Secret’s] best player and turned the curse back around,” Paper Rex assistant coach Ashton “Wendler” Wendler joked during the post-match interview.
Kidding aside, Wendler points out that Team Secret isn’t a team to underestimate.
He added, “In general, I know a lot of people joke about Team Secret but teams like that you have to be, not scared, but you have to anticipate that they could have that one week where everyone shows up. In [the second map], they could have taken us all the way to a deciding map but luckily we were able to bounce back on defense.”
For Reyes, though he faced his former team, he sees the win as one for the many Filipino Valorant fans.
“It was pretty nice to win against my former team. I’m happy to see a lot more Filipinos in the scene. I think there’s a lot of talent in the Philippines and I think we will become one of the powerhouses in Valorant with more time. I’m really happy to see fellow Filipinos performing well and the Filipino pride is there,’ Reyes said in the post-match interview.
Global Esports, with Filipinos Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza and Xavier “xavi8k” Juan, previously held the top spot in Group Alpha but had suffered a 0-2 sweep against South Korean squad KRX (formerly DRX). The defeat denied Global Esports an early entry to the playoffs and is the squad’s first loss in VCT Pacific Stage 1.
Filipinos will see the last Filipino match-up in the tournament as Global Esports faces Paper Rex on Friday, April 24, at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Team Secret hopes to fend off elimination with a win over reigning Masters Santiago winner Nongshim RedForce on Sunday, April 26, at 7 p.m.