PINOY Valorant squad Team Secret faced EMEA giant Acend in their quarterfinal match up at Champions 2021 in Berlin, Germany, and Jayvee "DupsteP" Paguirigan’s anticipated matchup against Turkish ace Mehmet "cNed" Ipek had everyone gushing with excitement.
But in the end, it was cNed who stole the show with 43 frags and 12 first bloods in the series.
A failed Icebox charm for the Filipinos
Team Secret was hopeful in the first match as they went with Icebox, the map where they previously bested another EMEA team, Gambit. A lot of the rounds were close, thanks to the heroics of Riley "Witz" Go, but Acend showed they had Secret’s number in the opening map. Solid holds by Santeri "BONECOLD" Sassi and Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt kept Secret at bay as they took map 1.
A breeze for the Turkish giants
Acend picked Breeze for the second map, knowing how much Secret struggled on it the last time around. cNed was once again unleashed on Breeze, with 18 frags to his name, while his foe, DubsteP, seemed to find his footing for Secret with a more positive play.
But the rest of his team definitely looked disjointed, seemingly still traumatized from their last 13-0 on Breeze at the hands of Gambit. Acend took advantage and made short work of the team, taking a comfortable 13-6 win against the Filipino squad.
While Team Secret’s Champions 2021 ends, they go out with their heads held high for a Top 8 finish and the newfound respect of fans all around the world of Valorant.
Fellow esports athletes also showed their support on Twitter for the first-person shooter team.
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