ZOL Esports comes up short in Predator League 2025 Valorant tilt

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- All-FIlipino Valorant team ZOL Esports failed to claim the Predator Shield in the Asia-Pacific Predator League 2025 Valorant event after falling to Indonesia's Alter Ego in the grand finals match held Saturday, January 11, at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) here.

Having had a phenomenal run in the group stages and taking down Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) franchise team BOOM Esports from Indonesia, ZOL Esports qualified as the top seed of Group C. 

They continued to dominate in their semifinal match against home team Xipto Esports, fielding fellow Filipino Mark "MarkL" Lester, as ZOL Esports took the opening map Haven with a perfect 13-0. In Xipto's map pick Pearl, it was a close match at the half, with both teams tied at 6-6. But ZOL Esports took four consecutive rounds to close out the series at 13-9.

In the grand finals, ZOL Esports managed a slight lead at the half point of Sunset, but Alter Ego rallied three consecutive rounds to take the lead. ZOL managed to prolong the series and almost forced overtime, but Alter Ego eventually closed it out at 11-13. At Split, all hope seemed lost as Alter Ego secured a 5-11 after the half, but ZOL Esports rallied to take six consecutive rounds to tie the series 11-11.

A rightfully called timeout on the the side of the Indonesian squad gave Alter Ego the boost to eventually close out the series, 11-13, handing ZOL Esports a second place finish.

Despite missing the Predator Shield, the newly formed roster of ZOL Esports was proud of their run in their first tournament of the year.

"Proud kami sa sarili amin na naabot namin itong second place kami kahit na bagong roster kami. Two weeks practice lang, nakita naman natin yung potential ng team. Tuloy tuloy lang pag-uwi, gagalingan pa namin," ZOL Esports player Franz Kevin "kevzii" Dingal told the Filipino media after the match.

The team will be participating in the upcoming first split of the VCT Challengers League Southeast Asia beginning January 16, eyeing payback as they are in the same group as Alter Ego.

"Siguro dahil dito sa Predator League, nakita naman rin natin na talagang aya rin ng Pinoy. Two weeks pa lang kami. Natalo kami dahil sa mga mali namin. Small mistakes lang as a team, mai-improve pa namin yun. Mataas yung tiwala ko sa team na ito na kaya namin Manalo sa Challengers," said player Emmanuel "EmmanFPS" Morales, a former VCT Pacific franchise player under RRQ.

"Siguro yung mga adjustments namin tsaka consistency nung team. Kailangan namin ayusin yun. Wala naman akong nakikitang malalang mistake. Practise lang and masosolusyunan yung naging mistakes namin this tournament," added coach John "JCL" Lim.

The previous year's version of the Asia-Pacific Predator League was the first time Valorant was chosen as the second featured title in the tournament's finals. The 2024 league was held in the Philippines, with VCT Pacific franchise roster Team Secret lifting the Predator Shield at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.