IT’S one of Philippine esports’ biggest what-ifs of 2021. What would have happened if Bren Esports’ Valorant team hadn’t run into visa problems and actually made it to the Valorant Masters Berlin?
To recap: After their Cinderella run in the Valorant Champions Tour Challengers 3 - Southeast Asia, the top-seeded team in the region suddenly found themselves a no-go for Germany, the venue for the VCT Stage 3 Masters.
On September 3, as the hashtag #BringBrenToBerlin flooded Twitter, no less than Riot Games’ head of Valorant Esports had to issue a statement explaining that the team had been unable to secure the necessary travel visas.
“Over the past month our global mobility teams in North America, Europe, and Asia explored multiple avenues to find a solution, including engaging with relevant governmental agencies in the Philippines and Germany,” explained the statement. But even so, the squad couldn’t nail down the paperwork in time for the final deadline.
Shortly after, Bren Esports announced that they would release the entire Valorant roster. Team Secret signed them up, and fielded them in the Valorant Champions 2021, also in Berlin.
The rest was esports history.
JessieVash confident they would have taken the Masters
In a Spin.ph Zoom In episode, Team Secret initiator Jessie Cristy “JessieVash” Cuyco pondered an alternate universe where he and the rest of Bren Esports were able to make it to the Berlin Masters.
“Feeling ko, kayang-kaya namin mag-champion at that time,” said the FPS veteran. “Kasi kung titingnan mo yung laro namin sa Champions [nung December], ‘yun na kami e. Yun sana ang i-a-apply namin sa Masters.”
In fact, JessieVash even surmised that other teams had gotten the leg up on them because of their absence.
“Dahil na-miss namin yung Masters, lahat ng teams [...] nag-improve. [Nakapag]-add sila ng experience.”
He added: “Ready na kami lumaban nung time na yun.”
Watch the clip of JessieVash on the Spin Life Facebook post embedded above, or tap here to watch the full episode with Team Secret.
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