STEPPING up the gaming experience for Filipino gamers, Riot Games and Mineski which are among the country’s premier esports organizations, hosted the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2022: Philippines Stage 1 Challengers. The event was held from Feb. 10 until Feb. 27, sponsored by ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG). 

The tournament brought out the beasts inside the Filipino gamers as they fought each other in a double round-robin style; the teams were divided into two groups of four, with two subject to elimination and the other two to participate in the next playoffs. Moving towards the playoffs, the remaining teams played against each other in a double-elimination tournament, until the winners fought for the grand finals in a best-of-five series.

Play More, Pay Less

Similar to other esport tournaments being held all over the world, winners in this year’s VCT will receive cash prizes for their hard-earned victory. For the champions, they will receive a cash price of $10,000; second placers will receive $7,500; third placers will receive $4,000; fourth placers will receive $1,500; while fifth placers, as well as the sixth placers, will receive $1000 each; and lastly, both seventh and eight placers will receive $250. 

A total of eight teams participated in the tournament which includes: Team Secret (JessieVash, DubsteP, BORKUM, Dispenser, witz, Fayde), South Built Esports (PapiChulo, JA, azys, Pro, micr0, Flippy), Zeal Esports (2geMONSTAH, FireSaiyajiN, SenyorCarL, CraigyS, beats, Zyki), Action PH (Georggyyy, Aryu, Emman, sirodeathyo, modeskiii), NAOS Esports (Blas, blurred, jEEE, kvzx, Kakarot, backstab), Oasis Gaming (coco, Markyyy, Ripper, invy, Wild0reoo, Flufee), Bren Esports (xavi8k, JoshS, EJAY, BraiNfreeZe, Hotsuauz, Evo), and Looking for Org (Draxiimov, Nexi, Symbol, CHOWDY, exotic).

Conquering Rivals

During the early playoff rounds, Action PH faced Zeal Esports, with the former emerging victorious as they bounced back winning — scoring 13-8, 13-5, and 13-0, respectively; with the last two rounds losing the first map. As Action PH won the first matchup in the playoffs, South Built Esport was able to defeat Team Secret who initially lost the first map, but bounced back — winning the next two maps, similar to Action PH’s journey. On the other hand, NAOS Esports along with Oasis Gaming, held their ground in their respective groups, successfully securing first place and proceeding to the next round to fight head-on against Action PH and South Built Esport.

NAOS Esports then swept off  South Built Esports in the second round, winning all maps in a close fight (13-10 and 13-11); while Action PH completely destroyed Oasis Gaming by a huge margin (13-4 and 13-9). However, the losers were given a chance to get back in action by competing in the first round of the losers’ bracket, with Team Secret taking on Oasis Gaming and Zeal Sports against South Built Esports. Moving forward, with a score of 13-5 and 13-10, South Built Esports won decisively against Zeal Esports; Oasis Gaming came out on top as well with scores 14-12  and 13-10, eliminating Team Secret.

Whatever It Takes to Win

Going back to the winners during the playoff rounds, NAOS Esports went head-on to fight off Action PH in the upper bracket finals of the tournament. It was an unfortunate start for Action PH as they lost to NAOS Esports, scoring 13-8, in the first map. However, Action PH proudly redeemed themselves by winning the second map in a close match with a score of 13-11. Moving on to the third map, it was NAOS Esports who secured their spot in the grand finals as they won by a huge gap of 13-6. 

On the other hand, Action PH had the opportunity to secure a spot in the grand finals as they played against South Built Esports during the losers’ bracket Finals. However, just like their match against NAOS Esports on the first map, it was also an unfortunate start for Action PH who lost in the first map against South Built Esports with a score of 13-10. Luckily, Action PH made a comeback by winning the second map and scoring 13-8. It all came down to the third map, as South Built Esports redeemed themselves by winning in a close fight with a score of 13-11, securing a spot in the grand finals to fight off against NAOS Esports.

Sweet Revenge

Previously, the NAOS Esports emerged victorious, defeating South Built Esports during the upper bracket second round. It was a good start for NAOS Esports as they won in the first map with a score of 13-11 making a statement on why they are the favorites in this tournament. However, South Built Esports shockingly finished off NAOS Esports as they won the next three maps with scores of 13-11, 13-8, and 13-8 respectively. It was not an expected win since NAOS Esports were the favorites based on their record and through the number of fan support heading towards the grand finals. It was a huge upset that resulted in the South Built Esports being hailed as the champions in this tournament.

To the Victors Goes the Spoils

After the hard-fought battles from the first round of the playoffs until the grand finals, the top eight teams were able to receive their prize money. For the winners of the eighth and seventh places, $250 each went to Looking for Org and Bren Esports, while $1,000 went to Zeal Esports and Team Secret for winning the sixth and fifth place, respectively. As for the third placers, Oasis Gaming received $1,500, while $4,000 went to Action PH for winning third place. As for the top two teams who competed in the grand finals, NAOS Esports received a total of $7,500 and the biggest prize money with a total of $10,000 went to the grand finals champion, South Built Esports.

The latest tournament proved to be a motivator for aspiring gamers to follow their passion and play with all their hearts. As for the victory of South Built Esports, it was not an easy journey considering they were the underdogs who lost in the previous rounds. With perseverance and a winning mindset, they proved how one team can still achieve its goals no matter what the odds may say.