Lyceum of the Philippines University reigned supreme in Season 1 of the Collegiate Center for Esports Mobile Legends tournament, capping off a magnificent run with a 2-0 sweep of San Sebastian College-Recoletos in the grand finals at the jampacked SM Mall of Asia Music Hall on Thursday, July 28.
The Pirates came, saw and conquered the Land of Dawn to be hailed as the inaugural champions of the historic collegiate Esports tourney backed by Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and with Galaxy Racer as official Esports partner, Converge as connectivity partner, Mountain Dew as gaming fuel and Cyberzone as venue partner.
Mark Kenneth “Mark” Delos Reyes led the way for Lyceum as he captured the first CCE Season MVP plum behind a steady showing as the team’s jungler in the upstart league featuring 10 established universities and colleges in the country.
With a collective effort made possible by team captain Paul Adrienne “FAE” Huang, Remarch “LUST?” Eusebio, Ralph Joshua “ALAS” Eusebio, Alfonso Clemence “GARCI” Sales and sixth man Marc Joseph “Marc” Balcita,
Lyceum lost only a total of two matches in the entire tournament.
The Pirates wiped out the elimination round, 9-0, before earning similar 2-1 victories against Arellano and San Sebastian in the first round and finals of the upper bracket, respectively.
In the final duel for all the marbles though, Lyceum just could not be stopped as they ran through the Stags with little issues.
LUST?’s Claude (6/1/8 KDA) and Mark’s Karina (8/1/7) wreaked havoc in the end-game of grand finals opener after a back-and-forth affair to propel Lyceum to a gritty win after 20 minutes of play.
In Game 2, the Pirates nearly ran out of steam from an early push following a good recovery from the Golden Stags before Lust’s Wanwan (12/2/4 KDA) came through with a crucial triple kill in the 16th minute that served as the dagger in the heart of their rivals.
Lyceum went on to wrap things off in 17 minutes as ALAS’ Diggie, Fae’s Xavier, Mark’s Akai and Garci’s Uranus plotted the stage for Wanwan’s finishing kick.
“Sobrang saya po na nakuha ko ‘yung Season 1 MVP. Sobrang worth it yung pagod namin sa practice pero itong MVP na ito, para ito sa buong team kasi lahat kami nag-trabaho para makuha itong championship,” said Delos Reyes.
“Thank you sa opportunity na binigay ng CCE para mai-showcase namin yung skills namin. Sobrang salamat po sa lahat ng supporters ng Esports at sa Lyceum na sumuporta sa amin since Day 1,” added skipper Huang.
On the coattails of Lyceum as the second seed all tournament long, the Golden Stags have nothing to be ashamed off in a proud runner-up finish with Jorenz Louie “pogi ako” Denosta, Antoine “sorry weak lang” Abcede, Miguel “Balagbag kay Maria” Diaz, Mark “Moonflower” Asuncion, Ken Ceron and Kiele Bien “KiBi” Marin leading the way.
San Sebastian’s biggest showing came in the lower bracket finals when it pulled off a reverse sweep against College of St. Benilde Astra, 2-1, highlighted by a comeback win in Game 2.
Behind Leonardo “Lee” Sison, Yuri Efraim “Ķäľăçĥûćĥï” Casabuena, Kelvin Kurt “Vigor Dugjudy” Javier, Alexandre Gabrielle “AK” Laverez, Mark Jeffrey “Makuuu” Marjolino – Makuuu, Jeffrey “Jeffrey” Yu and Leonard “Bapskie” Van Jaboli, CSB finished third to complete the CCE podium.
The biggest victory, however, was realized by the CCE, headed by Waiyip Chong as commissioner and Stanley Lao as president, after finally setting the stage for the birth of the new Esports movement in the collegiate level.
“Sobrang happy ko kasi parang panaginip ito na nagkatotoo. Nagkaroon na ng chance ‘yung mga students sa Esports. Masaya kami na nakita sila lahat na masaya,” beamed Lao.