6045 Pirates made a strong showing on the first day of the VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs, sweeping Vietnamese team Fearus 2-0.

6045 Pirates is the first Philippine team from outside of the capital city of Manila to compete in a VCT SEA event. 6045 Pirates hail from Cebu, and have been very active in the local scene.

Standout player Keith “FIRESYJN” Madarang made a name for the team in community Philippine tournaments. Due to his solo carry potential, several analysts pointed out that revolving the strategy around one player wouldn’t sustain the team in the long run.

In the 2021 VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs, 6045 Pirates have taken that advice to heart. They’ve incorporated more team plays and synergy into their style, which is, for now, translating to better results.

“It’s not the FIRESYJN show anymore, it’s the Pirates show now,” said 6045 Pirates’ coach Yuki “ZYKI” Uruma, who has been with the team since the start.

Coach ZYKI also shared how they no longer shy away from putting their star duelist on other agents like Sage to surprise their opponents.



In their match against Fearus, other members of the team got their time to shine. While Fearus came close on the first map, Bind, 6045 Pirates looked even better on the second map, Icebox, which they won 13-6.

6045 Pirates will face Indonesian squad NXL Ligagame next.

Check out the VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs site to stay up to date on the latest news.

READ MORE: Complete match results for the VCT SEA Challengers Playoffs