Team Secret started off its Wild Rift Horizon Cup campaign on the wrong foot as it fell to Chinese squad ThunderTalk Gaming in the opening salvo of the group stage at the Suntec Convention Center in Singapore on Saturday, Nov. 13.
The all-Filipino team couldn’t sustain its hot start after drawing first blood in the series as it surrendered the next two games which allowed the Chinese squad to pull off a reverse sweep and notch its first win of the tournament.
TS stunned TT in the series opener with the Filipinos taking an early 9-3 advantage following a clash for the dragon at the eight-minute mark of the game where Team Secret took down three champions on the side of ThunderTalk.
The Filipinos just padded the lead from that point as it took all of the major objectives and dominated every team fight. The last one, near Thundertalk’s top lane, allowed Team Secret to eliminate three TT players to seal the first win in a 16-4 tally.
Caster “Chewy” Dela Cruz starred in the first game with a 5-1-7 KDA on his Varus.
ThunderTalk came out with their own punches in Game 2 as the Filipinos faltered to the pressure mounted by the Chinese team. TT focused on getting turret objectives to shrink the Filipinos’ map.
The Filipinos were able to secure the Rift Herald at the eight-minute mark but at the expense of three champions which enabled TT to gain more map control. A clash at the bottom lane initiated by James “Hamez” Santos Gallo backfired as the counter initiation from Thundertalk proved lethal en route to a 19-5 domination in Game 2.
The momentum carried on to the Game 3 for the Chinese squad as it survived another impressive start from the Filipinos to close the series out, 9-9. A perfect Baron steal from the side of the ThunderTalk erased TS’ early 9-5 kill advantage. The Chinese team also took down two more champions from TS in the process only leaving three players to defend the Nexus against a complete TT squad.
ThunderTalk’s mid-laner Zhou “Z “ Tianjian was named MVP of the match with stellar performances on Nami and Orianna in Games 2 and 3..
TS has a chance to march into the win column on Sunday when it takes on eBro Gaming at 10PM