By REYNALD MAGALLON
Team Secret advanced to the playoffs of the Wild Rift SEA Championship 2021 on Saturday, Sept. 24 after a solid showing in the group stage where they racked up three wins, two draws and without a loss to finish with 11 points and at the second spot of the Group A standings.
The Filipinos landed a spot in the upper bracket quarterfinals where they are set to face MBR Esports from Indonesia in a best-of-five series. MBR finished third in Group A with nine points, from its 2-3-1 standing.
Team Secret and MBR had a draw in their group stage clash with MBR getting a head start in the best-of-two series via an 18-6 victory over the Filipino squad in Game 1. Adi “Radian” Riansyah on his Mid Ahri dictated the pace for his team with seven kills, five assists and a lone death while Peter “Airliur” Tjahjadi on his jungle Kai’sa took the MVP honors with six kills, five assists against two deaths.
Team Secret, though, returned the favor in Game 2 as Heri "Tatsurii" Garcia towed the Philippine team with a stellar performance on his mid Ziggs with nine kills and four assists against a lone death in the 16-5 victory. He also got ample support from their Dragon laner Caster "Chewy" Dela Cruz who contributed on his Varus with four kills and six assists without a death to force a draw and salvage a point in the series.
Team Secret had a rousing start to their campaign when it ripped SVP of Hong Kong with a swift 2-0 victory to start the group stage. The Philippine Pro Gaming League Fall 2021 champions then settled for a 1-1 draw against Taiwan’s ONE Team before having the same fate against MBR two days after.
Team Secret ended the group stage in a dominant fashion as they swept Singapore’s Team Flash, 2-0, before exacting revenge against Thailand’s Buriram United Esports – the team that eliminated Filipino team FENNEL Adversity in the Play In tournament, with another 2-0 sweep.
However, the rousing end to the group stages weren’t enough to get an outright spot in the Upper Bracket Semifinals as Buriram United still finished atop the Group A standings with 12 points on its 4-0-1 record.