Team Secret’s amazing run in the Valorant champions 2021 ended on Thursday after falling to the European squad Acend, 2-0, in the quarterfinals in Berlin, Germany.
The all-Filipino crew showed resolve as it went toe-to-toe against Acend but Team Secret just couldn’t get the push it needed to close out rounds.
Acend dimmed Team Secret’s chance of advancing to the next round after beating the Filipinos in their own map pick in Icebox. The woes continued in the second map as Secret struggled to solve the Breeze puzzle in the second map.
Acend outplayed the Filipinos in the early rounds of Icebox to take a 5-0 lead. Secret managed to get some points together but the European crew refused to give momentum to TS as it closed out the first half in Icebox with an 8-4 cushion.
Team Secret had flashes of brilliance with Riley "witz" Go on the Reyna pacing the Filipinos with 17 kills but it was not enough as Acend steamrolled in the second half led by the 25 kills of Mehmet Yağız "cNed" İpek on his signature Jett to draw the series first blood after a 13-8 triumph.
The Filipinos struggled anew in Breeze as Acend quickly built a 5-0 advantage to start the second map. Team Secret finally scored a round in Breeze to overcome the ghost of that 13-0 loss against Gambit Esports in the same map.
With TS down 7-2, the Filipinos tried to mount a comeback with Jayvee "DubsteP" Paguirigan and Jim "BORKUM" Timbreza coming alive to inch close at the half, 8-4 in Acend favor.
Acend, however, kept its poise against TS, dousing its last ditch run in the second half to close out the series with a 13-6 win.
Despite the loss, Team Secret, pegged as the heavy underdogs at the start of the tournament, had proven that it belongs to the world stage after defying everyone’s expectations with a Top 8 finish.
All is not lost still for the Filipinos as they will be taking home with them a P2 million cash prize.