MANILA -- A Pinoy shootout will take center stage at the Valorant Champions Tour: Pacific 2025 Kickoff in South Korea as all-Filipino squad Team Secret battles an overhauled Global Esports lineup featuring a number of Filipino players rising from the tier two scene.

Team Secret is set to bounce back from another heartbreaking finish in the 2024 season, after being denied once again a ticket to Valorant Champions as the fourth Pacific representative by Talon Esports. 

Japanese squad ZETA Division previously denied the squad the fourth Champions slot for Pacific during the Last Chance Qualifier in 2023.

The Adobo Gang was on a roll during the Split 2 by going undefeated in the regular season matches, even defeating Masters: Shanghai kings Gen.G, before falling to Talon in a crucial battle in the playoffs.

The winning streak occurred after a midseason shakeup with the signing of James "2GE" Goopio from Rex Regum Qeon and Brheyanne Christ "Wild0reoo" Reyes from Oasis Gaming in replacement of long-time member Jim "BORKUM" Timbreza and tier 1 rookie Noel "NDG" De Guia.

Additionally, recently-signed assistant coach Tim "dummy" Olson was elevated to head coach in place of Evan "Warbirds" Olzem, who was eventually taken in by RRQ as an assistant coach in the offseason.

READ: Borkum’s time with Team Secret is up

Despite failing to defend their title at the 2025 APAC Predator League in the offseason, the rest of the Pinoy squad composed of in-game leader Jessie "JessieVash" Cuyco, Jeremy "Jremy" Cabrera, and Adrian Jiggs "invy" Reyes, is ready to run it back and aim to qualify for a slot at a Masters tournament and a return to Champions since 2021.

Meanwhile, Global Esports hopes to improve their placement in the standings this season with another roster overhaul composed of mostly Southeast Asian players.

Since the start of the partnership era, their performances has landed them in the bottom half of the standings, placing eighth in 2023 and ninth in 2024 respectively despite carrying skilled and decorated players.

The third iteration of the Indian-based organization is composed of Filipino players Federico "Papi" Evangelista from NAOS Esports and in-game leader Kelly "KellyS" Sedillo from Oasis Gaming, Go "UdoTan" Kyung-won from South Korea, Savva "Kr1stal" Fedorov from Russia, Derrick "Deryon" Yee from Singapore.

Former Leviatán assistant coach Preston "juv3nille" Dornon takes on head coach duties after a tour with the VCT Americas top contender and Donnie "Elevated" Chell will be the assistant coach after a stint with the inaugural Valorant Champions organization, Acend.

READ:Global Esports rebuilds roster with Filipino players

Mark "patrickWHO" Musni, another Filipino player rising from the tier two scene was initially announced for the main roster, but is reportedly sidelined for the 2025 Kickoff tournament due to Korean work visa issues.

Deryon, coming in from a disbanded Bleed Esports, was signed in patrickWHO's place midway through the offseason due to the ease of work visa issuance for players coming from Japan or Singapore, according to the coaches in a video from GE's YouTube channel.

Since the start of the partnership era, their performance has landed them in the bottom half of the standings, placing eighth in 2023 and ninth in 2024.

After a series of show-matches with various teams and a second place finish in the mixed-gender offseason tournament Spotlight Series Pacific with members of the Top 4 2024 Game Changers Championship squad Xipto Esports, Global Esports aims to break the cellar-dweller curse this season and qualify for their first major tournament.

The VCT Pacific 2025 season will now feature 12 teams, including the newly-minted Ascension teams Nongshim RedForce (formerly Sin Prisa Gaming) and BOOM Esports. During the Kickoff tournament, teams will go through a double-elimination bracket and the top two teams will qualify for the first major inter-regional tournament, Valorant Masters: Bangkok in February.

The VCT Pacific Kickoff tournament begins January 18 and the Team Secret vs Global Esports match is set on January 19.