Team Secret and Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) are set to represent the Philippines in the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific League next year.
Team Secret and RRQ are two of the partnered teams selected by Riot Games to be part of the 30-squad selection for VCT as as competitive Valorant looks to enter a new era and expand with their franchising.
Both teams are perhaps the country's most decorated in terms of its achievements in the competitive scene.
Team Secret, for instance, was the first PH squad to reach the VCT Champions in 2021 placing 5th-8th.
For 2022, Team Secret ruled the VCT PH Stage 2 Challengers but only reached the VCT APAC Last Chance Qualifier.
RRQ, for its part, was recently held as champion in the local tournament Predator League following its campaign in the VCT APAC Stage 2 Challengers.
Both Team Secret and RRQ also expressed their gratitude to Riot and shared the development on their respective social media accounts.
Team Secret is composed of Jessie "JessieVash" Cuyco, Jayvee "DubsteP" Paguirigan, Jim "BORKUM" Timbreza, Kevin "dispenser" Te, Riley "witz" Go, and Jeremy "Jremy" Cabrera while RRQ consists of Kelly "kellyS" Sedillo, Jed "Draxiimov" Jamir, Nathaniel "Nexi" Cabrero, James "2ge" Goopio, Franz "kvzx" Dingal, Emmanuel "Emman" Morales.
In an article posted Wednesday, Sept. 21, it was revealed that the organizers and Riot looked for three factors in selecting for their franchise team partners namely those "who share our values of always putting fans first, celebrate our diverse community, and are committed to supporting pros; who have created a strong connection with fans through engaging content, a compelling brand, and an exciting roster; and who build for the long-term, with a focus on sustainability."
"It’s worth addressing directly that while we respect and celebrate past competitive performance, it was not a key consideration in our decision - as we instead focused on an organization’s ability to create the most compelling VCT for fans in the future," a portion of the article also read.
Completing the 30-man franchise teams are 100 Thieves, Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, FURIA, KRÜ Esports, Leviatán, LOUD, MIBR, NRG, Sentinels for the Americas; Fnatic, FUT Esports, KOI, Karmine Corp, Natus Vincere, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, Heretics, BBL Esports, Giants Gaming for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region; Detonation Gaming, DRX, Gen.G, Global Esports, Paper Rex, T1, Talon Esports, and ZETA Division for the Pacific. ###