Team Falcons Vega (FLCV), an all-women esports squad with three Filipinos, completed another series sweep in their flawless run so far this year, this time shutting Sisu Esports in the Upper Bracket semifinals of Valorant Champions Tour (VCT): Game Changers Southeast Asia (SEA) Split 2.

The victory last Friday, June 26, in the online tournament with a prize pool of $10,000 (around P613,000) guaranteed FLCV’s second consecutive appearance in Game Changers Pacific. It marked their tenth consecutive series win since the Open Qualifiers last March.

Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical shooter game developed by Riot Games and inspired by the Counterstrike series. 

FLCV, the professional, all-female roster of the Saudi Arabian Team Falcons, averted comeback attempts of Sisu (stylized as sisu) Esports and grabbed the series lead at Haven, 13-10, before closing strong on their map pick Lotus, 13-8. 

“Our team was shaky at the start,” said FLCV’s Alexandria “alexy” Francisco during the post-match interview. She pointed out that the team slowly gained their composure.

Indonesian duelist Odella “enerii” Abraham soared to a 41/30/14 kill-death-assist (KDA) scoreline and a 267 average combat score (ACS) to lead the flock in the two-map streak using agents Jett and Raze, respectively.

Fragger Mary “capriciouS” Sabado, one of the three Filipinos in Sisu, came out swinging with a 34/37/8 KDA in her team’s losing effort.

Calm and experience

Behind the comfortable margins in the final scores, Falcons Vega needed to stabilize after a rocky start. Nowhere was their form during the 13-1 crusher in Haven against Baguette in their series last June 23 when they faced a 1-3 deficit early at their attacking side.

Armed with pistols on Round 5, FLCV’s rush on A site allowed Filipino Kelly “shirazi” Jaudian to find two eliminations with a Classic that secured the fight in their favor. She ignited an 8-1 run to put themselves on a six-point lead at halftime.

The Falcon flurry continued with an ace from another Filipino, Camille “Kamiyu” Enriquez, during the 13th round, followed by back-to-back wipeouts that put the team’s advantage at its widest, 11-4.

Momentum swing

An aggressive B Site takeover swung the momentum to Sisu’s side in Round 16, striking back with a 5-1 blitz to go up double-digit at 12-10. Falcons Vega, however, got two early picks that snowballed to a Thrifty win in Round 23 to close out the first map.

The “enerii”-led squad stormed to a more fast-paced playstyle on Lotus, drubbing the opposition in an 8-4 defensive half. It pressed their advantage as attackers, with a crossfire in A Rubble allowing them to get an advantageous 2v1 setup to secure a match point in Round 17.

An ace from Sisu’s Surassawadee “Yxqme” Khongpechdee of Thailand in Round 20 was not enough to turn the tide as Falcons Vega bucked the pressure and swarmed the B Site with Sheriffs that was successfully converted to another Thrifty win.

Francisco said familiarity has helped them in shrugging off the jitters. “I think they are very experienced players also and they know how to calm themselves in game and they know [when] they are panicking in game,” said the 23-year-old fragger.

The current TFCV roster features four out of the five original members of the Team SMG lineup in 2023 and Xipto Esports in 2024 that collected back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the Game Changers Championship in their respective years.

Francisco, Abraham and Enriquez have been competing under the Falcons Vega banner since 2025, with Jaudian borrowed from the Chinese-based team Nova Esports GC last March. In-game leader Modhi “madv” Alkanhal of Saudi Arabia has been representing the Falcons Vega since 2022.

SISU Esports have harbored upcoming talent from Filipino women players under the in-game names of “mei” and “shina.” It has boosted its lineup with championship-caliber talents, Sabado and Khongpechdee, who were part of Xipto Esports in last year’s Game Changers Championship in South Korea.

Falcons Vega are a win away from making back-to-back grand finals appearances, with their Upper Bracket Final clash against Filipino Tiara “Alluka” Pleno and her squad wiwiwi on Sunday, June 28, 10 p.m. (in Manila).

Sisu, on the other hand, takes a more dangerous route toward qualification in the Lower Bracket, starting off with Vietnam’s Zero Sugar the day before at 7 p.m.

The Top 3 finishers of Split 2 received byes heading to the regional showdown.