| (Image Source: Yahoo! News/League Of Legends) |
Team Secret, the European eSports organization that is mostly well-known for its DOTA 2 division, has officially set up its own League of Legends: Wild Rift team seemingly comprising of players from the Philippines. In December 2020, James "Hamezz" Santos was announced as the first player to become part of the said squad. Though the full roster is yet to be disclosed, the team will make its competitive debut in the League Of Legends Wild Rift Southeast Asia Icon Series: Preseason.
The Icon Series is a five-weekend long regional tournament series featuring seven location-specific tournament circuits. After the preseason, players in the region will have the chance to compete in the LoL Wild Rift SEA Icon Series' Summer season, an eight week-long tournament where any team may compete to become the best in the region and eventually go on to take on a series of pan-regional tilts to become the first regional champions. The Wild Rift Southeast Asia Icon Series: Preseason will kick off on February 27 and features three-day long weekend tournaments in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
For Riot Games Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan Head of eSports Chris Tran, the Southeast Asia Icon Series is the first step in growing LoL: Wild Rift into a regional eSports title worthy of the players' passion and skills and the company is excited to launch the first Wild Rift eSports series with its partners across the region. "With them, we aim to showcase quality of performance, level of creativity and sheer resilience of the teams who will shape the competitive scene across Southeast Asia. We hope that teams and fans alike will enjoy this tailored experience of highly-stakes Wild Rift competition," Tran said. With these in mind, here is the schedule of each regional tournament in the Icon Series Preseason.
* Vietnam (VNG) - February 26 - 28
* Malaysia (ESL) - March 6 - 7
* Taiwan (Cyber Games Arena) - March 11 - 14
* Thailand (ESL) - March 13 - 14 * The Philippines (PPGL/Mineski) - March 20 - 21
* Indonesia (One Up) - March 19 - 21
* Singapore (Eliphant) - March 26 - 28
The League Of Legends Wild Rift Southeast Asia Icon Series: Preseason will feature not only the best professional gaming squads in the region, but also appearances from seasoned players and teams. Here are the confirmed teams that will compete in the said tournament series.
* Indonesia - Alter Ego, Onic
* Malaysia - Berjaya Dragons, TODAK
* The Philippines - Bren eSports, RRQ PH, Team Secret
* Singapore - The Alliance
* Taiwan - Flash Wolves, ONE Team, TXO
* Thailand - King of Gamers Club
* Vietnam - V Gaming, Saigon Phantom, SBTC eSports
