Home court in the Philippines. Home map with Haven.
There's no place like home.
It was a long time coming but Team Secret was finally able to win in their home court of the Philippines, dominating Japanese squad FAV Gaming in the Asia Pacific Predator League Valorant finals.
It was a double homecoming of sorts for the Filipino team, as they won the championship in their favorite map, Haven.
FAV Gaming gave TS a challenge in the first map, Breeze, tying the round at 4-4.
But the Filipinos eventually got their bearings, speeding their way to a 13-7 win.
Adrian "Invy" Reyes was hailed the MVP of the first map with KAY/O, with three First Bloods and a triple-double KDA of 22/12/17.
When the teams entered the Haven map, all bets were off.
Team Secret went on an 8-0 run, including a clutch performance from Jim "Borkum" Timbreza for the second point, and a flawless team effort for the third.
FAV Gaming didn't give up without a fight though, with Korean shooter Kim "TenTen" Tae-young delivering his own clutch game for Japan.
Team Secret pressed on though, and were up 11-1 before the swap.
They got one more win as the defenders this time. Just one more and they would become champions.
But FAV Gaming refused to go down, saving two straight match points, including a flawless effort, 3-12.
The lead proved to be too much, and the Filipinos ran away with the win, 13-3.
Noel "NDG" de Guia was hailed MVP for the second map with a KDA of 18/5/4.
Team Secret bagged $65,000 for the win, while FAV Gaming settled for a cool $20,000 in their first finals appearance.
Series MVP Jeremy "Jremy" Cabrera won $10,000.