Pinoy Valorant teams hope to make the big leap
With the recently concluded VCT Berlin Masters gaining much of the attention especially from the local Philippine scene, it wasn’t strange to wonder: where are Filipino teams?
The country had produced several individual talents who came out and thrived in the international scene. But the success of an entirely Filipino team, however, was a different story altogether especially for a nation whose esports landscape has been long dominated by mobile games.
To be fair, PH teams had their own share of spotlight in the international stage with Team Secret probably the most notable and successful team to date.
Team Secret had its best finish in all of Valorant Esports in the Champions 2021 where it placed 5th to 8th and is still part of the Tier 1 competitions to this date as part of the franchise teams in the VCT: Pacific.
Of course, there could be more Philippine teams in the future especially with the local scene starting to boom and become one of the most competitive.
The Valorant Challengers Philippines Split 1, which saw the rise of up-and-coming teams and the perennial contenders stamping their class, served as a sneak peak of the competition in the upcoming Split 2 which dangles a spot to the VCT: Ascension Pacific tournament.
The winner of the Ascension tournament would then be rewarded a spot in the VCT Pacific League and a chance to play in the Masters and Champions for the next two years.
Oasis Gaming, now with Filipino star Jayvee “DubsteP” Paguirigan, is one of the teams looking to rise to the international scene after falling short of advancing in the Ascension 2023.
It hopes to settle the unfinished business last year when it only placed second in VCL PH Split 2 after a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to NAOS Esports in the grand finals. NAOS, however, could only place 3rd-4th in the Ascension as Malaysian team Bleed Esports claimed the spot to the VCT Pacific.
Emerging contender as well is the ZOL Esports which topped this year’s Split 1 after toppling NAOS with a convincing 3-1 victory in the grand finals. It was a huge improvement from its third place finish in last year’s Split 2.
And then there are the open qualifier winners JustUs and Old Stinky Cat which finished at the third at the fourth spot in the Split 1, starting to carve a name for themselves in the local scene.
