WITH A chance to finally secure a slot for the VCT Masters in Copenhagen, lone Filipino squad Team Secret hoped to show their dominance against Southeast Asian juggernauts Paper Rex in an APAC Clasico.
But it seems their trip to Copenhagen will have to wait as Paper Rex swept the Filipino reps, 2-0, sending them to the lower bracket off an MVP performance from Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto.
Secret still has a chance to secure their Master’s slot by winning the lower bracket final.
Team Secret left forsaken
Team Secret thought that picking Ascent was going to give them the advantage in Game 1, but Paper Rex ensured that decision would backfire.
The MY/SG squad overwhelmed Team Secret with their aggression in both their attacking and defending sides.
On offense, f0rsakeN's Chamber would be a pest as he constantly landed his Headhunter and Operator shots to eliminate key members from the Filipino squad.
Then in defense, Wang Jing “Jinggg” Jie would charge towards the danger zone, bursting down key members.
Though Secret managed to secure key rounds, they struggled throughout the match and with players like Benedict “Benkai” Tan delivering the dagger in the final round all thanks to his Fade plays, Team Secret suffered from a 13-7 defeat against PRX.
Khalish “D4V41” Rusyaidee bagged the MVP honors with 19 kills and a KDA of 3.4.
And the same outcome occurred in Game 2 as Secret was outplayed by their SEA rivals in Bind.
Amid the roster change where Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera replaced Riley “witz” Go, Secret still struggled and the situation became worse given the 13-2 scoreline.
Benkai was proving to be a threat in the first few rounds due to his crazy flick shots, and combined his skill with the smokes from Aaron “mindfreak” Leonhart, Secret couldn’t gain any advantage.
Things started to spiral downward as f0rsakeN delivered the finishing touches. His Yoru served as a scouting presence, allowing him to teleport around the map to provide his team some intel, while at the same time surprising the Filipinos with his backstabbing moments.
And with a demoralized Secret, f0rsakeN capitalized on their morale and destroyed them in Round 14 with his Judge, ultimately sweeping their SEA rival and securing a ticket to Copenhagen.
It wasn’t a surprise that f0rsakeN took home the MVP honors with his 24 kills and 4.0 KDA ratio.
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