In an attempt to repeat their success at the Alliance Games S3 Quarterfinals last June 3, the DLSU Viridis Arcus Valorant team fell short against the roster of NU Fairview’s (NUFV) Fervent, 2-0, in a best-of-three matchup. Holding a 3-1 record during the group stage, Viridis Arcus had to make a run through the quarterfinals after missing out on an outright semis berth.
Representing La Salle at the competition were Arvin “Vintage” Vinluan, Derrick “Realist” Ong, Dominique “Dom” Uy, Aaron “Fission” Sablay, Andrej “Yao” Yao, and Hector “Rex” Cabuhat. This defeat marked the end of their five-peat tenure at the top of the collegiate Valorant scene in the absence of their key fragger, Xavi “Xavi8k” Juan.
Rough start
The match opened with the map Lotus, where the VA team would start slow and go down, 9-4, at the end of first half. Faced with unfortunate circumstances, the La Salle side had difficulties gunning down the NUFV setups, often leaving one or two players to fend for themselves in post-plant man disadvantages. Some of the positive outcomes of the half were a Round 6 highlight and some clutch Round 9 kills to allow Realist to defuse the spike from Vintage. There was still hope for the DLSU side since a five-point comeback was not out of the realm of possibility.
Come the second half, VA’s attack looked much cleaner than their previous defensive rounds, with the help of entry fragger Dom who pressured the B site. The defending champions were able to snag the first two attack rounds, highlighted by aggressive fragging in Round 15 as they cut the NUFV lead, 9-6. Unfortunately, the entries in the attack rounds were soon sorted out by Fervent, who won the succeeding rounds, 13-6, and went up in the series, 1-0.
Delayed success
After a lackluster first map, VA regrouped in Haven in hopes of reverse sweeping NUFV to clinch a semi-finals berth. The opening round saw Viridis Arcus charge toward the C site, but it proved to be unsuccessful as Fervent took the first point, 1-0. This would set the tone for the match, as the team from Fairview rode their success from the first map into the second, leaving DLSU scoreless for the entire first round, 12-0. The VA team would win two rounds afterward but they were ultimately eliminated, 13-2, and lost the series, 2-0.
Vintage shared that the team felt sad that they could not make it to their sixth finals appearance, but he remained optimistic about rebuilding their roster in the coming seasons. He also added that he and the team are still hungry, “[Having a] five-peat is not enough—we’re looking to reclaim the throne next season and prove ourselves as the top dogs of collegiate Valorant once again.”
