By Paolo R. Trinidad
NAOS Esports fell to the Group C elimination match after a 2-1 loss against Bleed Esports in the group stage of the VALORANT Champions Tour Asia-Pacific Stage 1: Challengers Playoffs, Wednesday evening.
After bagging the opening round, the Filipinos dropped the next to games — allowing a reverse sweep at the hands of the Singaporeans.
The runner ups of the Philippines Challengers suffered a heartbreaking 13-4 defeat in Game Three at Ascent
NAOS just had no answer to Derrick “Deryeon” Yee’s Jett, who thrived with his Operator, even scoring an Ace in Round 10. He led Bleed Esports to an 8-4 advantage entering the second half.
The Filipinos continued to struggle in the second half as they did not even get a single round on the defending side, resulting in the loss.
Deryeon ended Map Three with a 21-9-2 KDA line while Shaun Matthew “blurred” Maglasang’s Jett with 12 kills for NAOS.
Emmanuel Jonathan “jEEE” Benavidez (Astra) back-packed the first half of Game One with 15 of his 21 kills in the BLD map pick Haven. But still, it was a competitive first half with both teams tied at six.
Second half was a different story. Bleed Esports wasn’t able to get a round win on the defensive side. NAOS unleashed three ultimates in round 19, while blurred (Jett) capped it off with an ace to finish Map One with a 13-6 victory.
Oscar “Kakarot” Fajin Jr. showcased Neon’s true potential in the pro scene after a team-high, 23-kill performance using the Filipino agent in Game Two at Split. However, it wasn’t enough as Bleed returned the favor and stole the NAOS map pick in a close 13-11 win.
With the series defeat, NAOS Esports will play the loser of the XERXIA Esports-ONIC G on Friday for a do-or-die series elimination.
