"We are just trying to find out our map pool" - Warbirds on Team Secret losing map picks in VCT 2023: Pacific League

Heading into the fourth week of VCT 2023: Pacific League, the competition is getting tougher and the stakes higher. Ten franchised teams from all over Asia-Pacific have their eyes set on the coveted Playoffs seats, which will bring them one step closer to Masters 2023 in Tokyo. Each squad in the Pacific League has displayed their best strategies and mechanical prowess.

Success, however, is evading a lot of teams despite their best attempts. Squads like Global Esports have not been able to convert any of their three incredibly close matches into victories.

Team Secret, on the other hand, seems to be suffering from a different ailment altogether. Their stats on paper seem impressive enough, but the Filipino side has not been able to win even on a single map that they picked in the VCT 2023 Pacific League so far.

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What is the reason behind Team Secret losing all their map picks in VCT Pacific League so far?

In the three weeks of the tournament so far, Team Secret has played against Talon Esports, Paper Rex, and Gen.G in Weeks 1, 2, and 3, respectively. For their first match, they picked Icebox. They chose Haven for their second game and Fracture for their third. This last one is the common map that was featured in all three matches.

Team Secret won the map in dominant fashion against both Talon Esports and Paper Rex but struggled to close out against Gen.G in Week 3. When Sportskeeda esports asked coach Evan "Warbirds" Olzem why he thought the side was losing their map picks constantly, his response was this:

"I think, against franchised teams — obviously they are going to punish your issues a bit more. I think it's about finding what maps work the best for us."

Those familiar with the VCT scene will know the importance of map vetoes when it comes to determining the outcome of a series. For example, Fnatic — from the EMEA region — will always try to pick Icebox because they are nearly invincible on that map, which greatly increases their chance of winning.

Warbirds further commented on their Fracture pick against Gen.G by saying:

"This week, we picked Fracture versus them (Gen.G), while last week, I believe it was Paper Rex that picked Fracture. I think we are just trying to find out our map pool and how our vetoes should go."

Team Secret came into the VCT Pacific League as a mid-tier squad, but defeating Talon Esports and Paper Rex in the first two weeks made them strong contenders for the Masters Tokyo seats.

However, it must be noted that Talon Esports has so far been the weakest team in this tournament, and Paper Rex's players were far from their best form in Week 2. Team Secret struggled to get to the point of not being able to take even a single map from Gen.G in Week 3.

A large reason for these performances has been the squad's inconsistent choice of maps and their inability to close out map picks. They will face Rex Regum Qeon in their Week 4 VCT Pacific match and one can only hope that Warbirds as well as Team Secret, are able to figure things out before it is too late.