Ex-teammates xavi8k, kellyS reflect on journey from Valorant hopefuls to VCT Pacific
MANILA, Philippines — Before they were competing on opposite sides of the VCT Pacific stage, Global Esports' Xavier "xavi8k" Juan and Team Secret's Kelly "kellyS" Sedillo were simply two Filipino players chasing the same dream.
The two former Oasis Gaming teammates recently reunited in the latest episode of RE:QUEUE, VCT Pacific's video talk show series, which brings together current and former teammates to reflect on their journeys, friendships and experiences in professional Valorant.
While both players have since found themselves on different teams, the episode served as a reminder of how far they have come from their early days in the local scene.
For the pair, some of the best memories were never about trophies or tournament victories.
"In my career, [Oasis was] the best thing I had. The friendship, the closeness with each other, the brotherhood," said Sedillo.
Years later, Oasis Gaming remains a special chapter in their careers.
"Every time I talk to my friends or to my family, they keep asking me, like, 'what's my best team, you [played with]?’ Oasis always. If I can just run it back, you know? At our peak," added Sedillo.
One memory involved spontaneous trips in the early hours of the morning despite having scrims scheduled the next day.
"Like we go on random road trips like 1 a.m. We'll go to Tagaytay. We'll drive like two hours, three hours then the following day have scrims,” recalled Juan.
Eventually, the pair's careers began taking different paths. Sedillo would break into the Pacific League, joining Global Esports in 2024 before moving to Team Secret in 2025.
"I asked the owner of the Oasis Gaming, Ate Ara, can I come to the bootcamp? She agreed, and I just grind there for almost two months straight. The moment Global Esports' owner called me, you're in. I jumped like a monkey, like, ah, this is it,” recalled Sedillo.
Juan had a similar experience himself at the start of the 2026 season when he was also signed by Global Esports.
"When I signed the papers, I was just like, it's finally coming true. That was such a good moment for me because I think I would have stopped if I didn't get [into Tier 1]. Since I did, I was able to continue my passion,” said Juan.
But making it to VCT Pacific turned out to be a different challenge altogether. Despite their success in Challengers, both players admitted that the jump to VCT Pacific was far tougher than they initially expected.
"When I was a Tier 2 player, I thought, like, the gap was not far. But when I joined, it's like a totally different ballgame. It's like, everyone's as good as you or even better than you,” shared Juan.
Juan even recalled that Sedillo had sent him a message welcoming him to Pacific and also giving advice as he made the jump to the regional competitive Valorant scene.
"When I joined Tier 1. You were like, 'Take care of your mental [mindset]. That's going to be the most important part.' When I first read that, I was really confident and everything. I was like, 'I'll take care of it.' And eventually, I was like 'This is hard. This is hard,’" Juan continued.
Despite now being competitors, both players still retain their camaraderie from their Oasis Gaming days.
"The growth you have as a player is like, very inspiring for me. You push me better,” Sedillo told Juan, who echoed the sentiment.
"You're the best player in Team Secret. Since Day 1, we came from the same boat. We wanted to be here. Who would've thought, like a year later, two years later, we're actually here. All our hard work, all those nights. It was worth it." said Juan.
Filipino teams face mixed results in VCT Pacific Stage 2
The second week of the VCT Pacific Stage 2 saw mixed results across all Filipino players.
Global Esports, featuring Juan and fellow Filipino Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, announced the addition of Filipino Derren "Aimix" dela Cruz as assistant coach. A former head coach of NAOS Esports, Aimix opened Global Esports’ Week 2 campaign with a 2-0 victory against Full Sense and former head coach Hector "FrosT" Rosario. However, the team was unable to carry that momentum into its second match, falling to Nongshim RedForce, 1-2, in their second match over the weekend.
Team Secret, with Sedillo and fellow Filipino Jhian "Zeus" Dela Cruz Vega, was also unable to build on its upset victory over KRX from the previous week, falling to South Korean powerhouse T1. Meanwhile, Adrian "invy" Reyes and Paper Rex bounced back from their opening-week loss by sweeping both DetonatioN FocusMe and KRX.
Week 3 will feature a Filipino showdown as Paper Rex takes on Team Secret on July 31 at 4 p.m. (Manila time), while Global Esports will face Gen.G Esports at 6 p.m.
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