Paper Rex loss spoils PatMen's debut in VCT Pacific

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino Valorant player Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza's debut in the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific Stage 1 was overshadowed as all teams with Filipinos suffered yet another week full of losses.

Mendoza, who played for Southeast Asian team Paper Rex, was the team's Most Valuable Player during a loss in Pearl against Boom Esports with an average combat score (ACS) of 221 as well as their map win in Ascent with 250 ACS.

Though eventually losing to Boom Esports, Mendoza made an impression among fans and analysts, and impressed his coach with how he played on the VCT Pacific stage for the first time.

"I thought he did a good job. He communicates very well, you know, so I think something that we lack in stressful situations. I thought he managed to arrange the game quite well. Obviously, I think it's his 1st time, and in anyone's 1st time, you know, you can get really stressed, especially because right now we are dealing with our own mental demons. I think he's a very good player, and I thought he did well enough for his debut. I'm quite pleased with him,” Paper Rex coach Alexandre "alecks" Sallé said in the post-match interview.

Other Filipino players saw a tough match-up this week, with Global Esports facing reigning VCT Pacific champion DRX and Team Secret taking on current Masters champion T1.

Federico "Papi" Evangelista, Kelly "kellyS" Sedillo and Mark "patrickWHO" Musni of Global Esports suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of DRX. Meanwhile, all-Filipino squad Team Secret managed to tap a map against T1 and even the lead at the half of the decider, only for the South Korean team to rally with a seven-round win on the attacking side, to deny Team Secret its first win of the tournament.

"We are better than last week. That one is, for sure. I do think we still have those silly mistakes that we're making, and I still feel like when the enemies are coming back to the rounds, we get pressured a lot by it. Other than that, I think if we can play our game more [instead of our enemies], I think we'll be playing a lot better than this for sure." said Team Secret coach Ji "meow" Dong-jun during the post-match interview.

Team Secret hopes to secure its first win in the tournament as it opens Week 4 against South Korea's Nongshim RedForce on April 12 at 4 p.m. Global Esports will face another South Korean team, Gen.G, on April 13 at 6 p.m.; while Paper Rex will close out the week against Japan's DetonatioN FocusMe on April 14 at 6 p.m.