Without sponsors and bootcamp but definitely not without a heart, Demigod Incognito conquered the PUBG Mobile Club Open Spring Split 2021-Southeast Asia Wildcard over the weekend to advance to the regional professional league.
Bannered by Christian "Kri" Labajo, Charles Louie "Chi" Laureta, Jenhiel Ian "Wam" Bodaño, Kevin Fil "Kvn" Amor, Jann Neil "Bunny" Cabrera (5th/6th man) and Seth Elzen "Kamaru" Agbon (5th/6th man) under team manager Fox, Demigod came through with a total of 130 points in 12 rounds of action to emerge atop the wildcard tournament featuring 16 teams from the Philippines and Cambodia.
It was actually a comeback victory by FOX's crew members as they jumped from No. 7 in the first six rounds last Saturday, April 24, to No. 1 in the closing six rounds on Sunday.
Demigod capped its astounding championship run in its first-ever PMCO participation with a chicken dinner in the final map at Erangel with 13 kills.
With the gutsy win, Demigod got the $4,000 (over P190,000) top prize and advanced to the PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL) Season 3-Southeast Asia Championship slated next month.
"Hindi po kami pro team. From humble beginnings po talaga. Wala rin po kaming sponsors. Naka-potato phone pa nga po ibang players namin (We are not a professional team. We came from humble beginnings and we don't even have sponsors. Some of our players use old phones)," Fox, leader and one of the founders of Demigods Esports, told Manila Bulletin via online chat on Wednesday, April 28.
"Nag-aambagan lang po kami. Team effort lang po talaga (We're just having our contributions. It's really a team effort)," added Fox.
Fox said they even encountered internet connection problems as they hail from different places in the country. Some of them even use only mobile data and are not located in cities.
Fox is from Mandaluyong City while Kri, the tourney's top fragger with 22 kills (six kills highest in a single map), lives in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Chi and Wam in Bangued, Abra, Kvn in Loon, Bohol, Bunny in Iligan City, Davao Del Norte and Kamaru in Bilar, Bohol.
Despite all the odds, Demigod took courage to shoot for their dream title, came out with guns ablaze in the tournament and achieved their primary objective.
Along with Demigod, Cambodian teams Orange Esports and JoinMe Yellow also made it to the PMPL for finishing runner-up (126 points) and third (116 points), respectively.
Meanwhile, PMCO Spring Split Philippines winner Blacklist International landed at No. 6 (103 points) even as other Filipino teams OGG Pro Team ended up at No. 7 (96), Guidotti Mikasa at No. 8 (92), Akuma Kitsune at No. 9 (82), Beta Sentinel at No. 11 (80), Sabrina Fuegos at No. 13 (76) and Sabrina at No. 14 (57).