Blacklist Rivalry and Team Secret are the New Asia Pacific Predator League 2024 Champions

Written by Contributor

January 18, 2024

The grand finals of Asia Pacific Predator League 2024 served up a day of esports matches and performances from musical superstars for the thousands of fans in attendance at the Mall of Asia Arena and to the many more watching online. Blacklist Rivalry bested local rivals Execration in the Dota 2 tournament, while regional powerhouse Team Secret dismantled Japanese squad FAV gaming to win their first LAN to kick off 2024 in VALORANT.

In Dota 2, Blacklist Rivalry played a bruising Alchemist-Dragon Knight-Spirit Breaker draft against Execration’s more tempo-oriented Tiny, Pangolier, and Lina lineup. But tempo was hard for Execration as Timothy “TIMS” Randrup’s Spiritbreaker was causing problems for them all over the map. Abed “Abed” Yusop controlled the game with his Dragon Knight alongside Kim “Gabbi” Santos’s Spirit Breaker as Blacklist Rivalry convincingly took Game 1.

In Game 2, Execration went back to Ember Spirit for Mark Anthony “Bob” Urbina, who had plenty of success with it early in the tournament. Blacklist Rivalry then drafted a Techies-Chen for their support duo. But the early game went to Bob as he outclassed Abed in the mid-lane. Polo “Raven” Fausto’s Luna found a lot of space around the map to farm, thanks to the aggressiveness of his teammates. Raven repaid the faith of his teammates with a raid-boss level performance as Blacklist Rivalry defeated Execration.

Blacklist Rivalry is all smiles as they will be going home with $65,000 as this year’s champion. Execration bags $20,000 for themselves. While third and fourth placers Team Aster from China and IHC Esports from Mongolia both pocket $7,500.

Execration bags $20,000 for themselves. While third and fourth placers Team Aster from China and IHC Esports from Mongolia both pocket $7,500.

In the VALORANT grand final, the first map went to FAV gaming’s pick of Breeze. With the Japanese going into the map with certain tricks up their sleeve, Team Secret had to bring their A-game. Team Secret took the Pistol round, but FAV gaming easily stabilized with good holds early on. Matsuyama “bazz” Naoya had a big Four-Kill round to get FAV gaming ahead in the first half. Noel “NDG” De Guia’s heroics helped Team Secret retake momentum away from FAV gaming, closing the gap going into the second half.

Team Secret took the Pistol and the Bonus round anew to get ever closer to match point. To make things even sweeter, Jeremy ‘Jremy’ Cabrera got himself the first Ace of the series in Round 14. The Adobo Gang arrived, and they could do no wrong as they took Map 1 with a 12-7 scoreline.

In Map 2, the series went to Team Secret’s Haven which they are known to be dominant in. In true Secret fashion, they were aggressive again on their defense side as they had early momentum yet again. To the delight of the crowd, Jremy got a knife kill against FAV gaming in Round 3. Team Secret could not be denied as they dominated with an 11-1 score at the half. It was too insurmountable for FAV gaming as they just could not keep up with Team Secret’s fine form. Team Secret made it a double for the Philippines as they also claimed the Predator Shield in VALORANT.

Team Secret goes home with the lion’s share of $65,000 while FAV gaming will bag $20,000. Third and fourth placers BOOM Esports from Indonesia and Team Flash from Vietnam take $7,500 each.

Merits were also given to exceptional warriors who stood tall in the competition in the Asia Pacific Predator League 2024. For Dota 2, it was awarded to carry player Polo “Raven” Fausto while in VALORANT it was awarded to duelist player Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera. Both players take home an extra $10,000 in cash as well as the  Intel MVP Award Trophy.

 

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