Zeta Division beat Team Secret to clinch World Champions spot

The Japanese side Zeta Division outplayed Team Secret in the final game of the VCT Pacific LCQ to secure the coveted spot at the 2023 VCT Champions.

After five days of heated competition amongst seven teams, Team Secret from the Philippines and ZETA DIVISION from Japan made it to the VCT Pacific LCQ Grand Finals. These two teams competed in the best-of-five Grand Finals in an effort to become the fourth Pacific team to advance to the Champions. Here is how the match unfolded:

Seven teams took on the challenge to fight for one last chance at joining Champions Los Angeles.

One week of VCT action has now ended with @zetadivision on top. This is #LCQPacific 2023! pic.twitter.com/pCfj644SgL

— VCT Pacific @ LCQ (@vctpacific) July 23, 2023

Zeta Divison vs Team Secret:

With an extremely aggressive double-duellist composition of Neon and Raze, Zeta started the best-of-five grand final on their map pick Fracture. They quickly established a 7-2 lead early on thanks to their aggressive approach, which made it difficult for the Filipino roster to gain any momentum. TS, however, managed to secure three rounds to reduce the gap to a manageable 5-7 at halftime. Riding on the wave of momentum, the Filipino roster succeeded to fend off Zeta and force overtime

Zeta, on the other hand, had a much more composed and tactical play in the overtime, winning two straight rounds to end the map with a 14-12 triumph. After settling things on Fracture, the Japanese team moved on to Team Secret’s map pick of Ascent for map 2. Both teams gave it their all in the first half, and the score was deadlocked 6-6. But, Secret, with the help of Jayvee “DubsteP” Paguirigan’s fragging skills, came out on top 13-8 to even the score 1-1.

The Japanese team responded quickly and put on a commanding performance on their own map choice, Split, establishing a gigantic 10-2 lead at half-time. Team Secret was able to create some chaos in the second half, but Zeta remained composed and crossed the finish line with a 13-7 victory, gaining an extra edge over their opponent with a 2-1 map lead.

#LCQPacific Champions and the Pacific’s final representative to Champions Los Angeles.

Congratulations for emerging victorious, @zetadivision! pic.twitter.com/nC2Kcqrmip

— VCT Pacific @ LCQ (@vctpacific) July 23, 2023

 

While the entire Team Secret fell short of expectations, Adrian “invy” Reyes’s subpar performance was the biggest letdown for fans. Despite being one of the most explosive Filipino players and possessing the highest Kill-Death ratio at Pacific LCQ (1.28), invy was unable to save his team in the most important game of the competition. With this loss, Secret’s 2023 VCT campaign comes to an end. The Pacific LCQ champions, on the other hand, will go to Los Angeles, California, to take part in this year’s Valorant World competition, which will take place from August 6 to August 26.

Header: Riot Games