FENNEL Adversity was the lone team invited to the Phase 2 of the Sibol Qualifiers for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in May.
FENNEL will be bannered by Raphael Alfonso "Rafe" Umali, John Phillex "Dani" B. Bulanadi, Maynard "Arise" Limon, Domino "Domeng" Magbanua and Carl Jioseppe “Calm” Lacsam – the same crew that saw action in the recently concluded SEA eSports Championship 2021.
Fennel finished second in last year’s Philippine Pro-Gaming League (PPGL) Fall which allowed the squad to qualify to the Wild Rift SEA Championship 2021 play-ins. Fennel then climbed their way up to the Grand Finals of the play-in only to fall to Thai squad Buriram United Esports and miss the tournament group stage.
Curiously, missing the invitation was PPGL Fall champions Team Secret. Team Secret’s all-Filipino crew was a revelation in last year’s season as it finished runnes-up in the WR SEA Championship 2021 and qualified to the Wild Rift’s crowning tournament of the year and first global-wide competition, the Horizon Cup.
In the world stage, the all-Filipino crew finished second in its group with a 3-1 record to reach the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, it toppled SEA Championship 2021 titlist SBTC Esports in Singapore to advance to the semifinals where it tangled against eventual champions and Chinese squad Da Kun Gaming.