Team Secret remained as the Philippines' last pillar of hope after securing a playoff spot in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2022: APAC Stage 2 Challengers Monday, June 20.
Team Secret kept its APAC dreams alive by sweeping Vietnam's Fancy United Esports, 2-0, in Group D's lower bracket.
The Filipinos, led by series Most Valuable Player Jayvee "DubsteP" Paguirigan, closed out the Group Stage on a high note with a 13-6 domination in Haven and 13-7 rout in Ascent.
DubsteP, on his KAY/O and Chamber, spearheaded Team Secret on a 39-22-10 kill-death-assist statline on both maps.
In Ascent, Team Secret ended the first half with an 8-4 lead before marching on with a 4-1 run to reach match point, 12-5, highlighted by DubsteP's ace in Round 15.
The Vietnamese scored back-to-back in the next two rounds but Team Secret put the finishing touches off a strong middle control for the win.
Jim "BORKUM" Timbreza and Jessie "JessieVash" Cuyco boasted 30 kills apiece while Riley "witz" Go and Kevin "dispenser" Te raked in 27 frags as the Philippines joined Group D No. 1 Bleed Esports of Singapore. Jeremy "Jremy" Cabrera, for his part, sat out in the series.
Vo "Hyzee" Nhurt Huy paced FCY with 27 kills and eight assists on his Omen.
Team Secret earlier lost to Bleed Esports, 0-2, in the upper bracket before fighting for dear life in the lower bracket against FW Esports, 2-0.
Completing the playoffs cast are Onic Esports of Indonesia) and Griffin E-Sports of Hong Kong (Group A), Xerxia of Thailand and Alter Ego Indonesia (Group B), Stage 1 champion Paper Rex of Malaysia-Singapore and Boom Esports of Indonesia (Group C).
Team Secret takes on undefeated Group B top seed Xerxia on Thursday, June 23 in a best-of-three upper bracket quarterfinals. Only the top two teams will qualify for Stage 2 Masters.