The power of home-court advantage was undeniable as we had three Pinoy teams present in both grand finals.
Pinoy esports and gaming fans had to double their celebrations as the Philippines became the 2024 Asia Pacific Predator League champions for both Dota 2 and Valorant. Blacklist International and Team Secret both swept their grand finals competition 2-0, establishing their dominance early in the year.
For Team Secret, this is a massive confidence booster for the Valorant squad. Composed of Filipino FPS veterans, a lot of expectations were placed on the team when they first formed. Unfortunately, they’ve only had middling to disappointing results throughout their run in the Valorant Championship Tour.
Looking to start the year right, Team Secret practically breezed through their group stage matches. Their playoff form looked just as strong as Japan’s FAV gaming couldn’t stop them from becoming the 2024 Predator League Valorant champions.
Blacklist also had something to prove after going through a massive shakeup after failing to qualify for last year’s International. With a revitalized Dota 2 roster, Blacklist crushed the competition in both the group stage and semifinals. Not even fellow Pinoy team Execration could halt their momentum as they took the championship with an undefeated record.
Powering up through the crowd
There’s something to be said about playing better on your home turf and we could clearly see its effects on our champions. You could say that both Blacklist and Team Secret had extra motivation to perform thanks to the Pinoy crowd.
For Blacklist’s Abed Yusop, the last time he played in front of a Pinoy crowd was back in 2016. On the other hand, this was Team Secret’s first time playing in front of a Pinoy crowd since the team’s formation. Neither wanted to let the home crowd down which led to one of the most dominant showings of a Pinoy team in esports.
If you want to relive how the Philippines became both the Dota 2 and Valorant Asia Pacific Predator League 2024 champions, then check out their official YouTube channel.
Banner photo from Predator Gaming PH.
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