LOYOLA GAMING (LG) Helios swept San Sebastian College – Recoletos Manila (SSC-R), 2-0, in the finals of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Pro Series SEA Campus Invitational Summer last October 9.
The tournament featured eight teams from the Philippines and Vietnam and followed a two-bracket, four-team format. LG Helios and SSC-R were part of the top two seeds of their respective brackets, which allowed them to advance to the semifinals.
Revenge match
After clinching a spot in the semifinals as the second seed of its bracket, LG Helios was presented with the challenge of overcoming the undefeated University of Santo Tomas (UST) Teletigers. Both teams have a history, having seen each other in action at the AcadArena Alliance Games last August 2022 where UST claimed the championship while Ateneo settled for a third-place finish.
All signs pointed to another Ateneo defeat when UST defeated LG Helios in their first semifinals match, 17-1. With their backs against the wall, LG Captain Vincent Mitzi “LG Antianara” Pajenago used support hero Faramis to step up in Game 2, finishing the match with a 3/1/21 KDA. Pajenago followed up his record with another flawless execution after registering a 2/0/10 KDA using Estes. His timely roams allowed LG Helios to complete the reverse sweep from their previous bout with UST in the AcadArena Alliance Games to book Ateneo a ticket for the finals.
“It felt nostalgic fighting with UST once again with its original roster—the same roster that brought us down [to] the loser’s bracket during our upper bracket finals match for AcadArena’s Split 1,” Player Eugene “LG Gene.” Dela Cruz said.
Cruising in the finals
Following a hard-fought series in the semifinals, Ateneo then easily cruised past SSC-R in the championship games. It was a surprising outcome for the Ateneo players because their opponents recently defeated the top seed in LG’s bracket—the Lyceum of the Philippines University.
However, the Blue and White opened the best-of-three finals with a quick victory as the first match only lasted for 15 minutes. Gold Laner Cyril Damon “LG BRANDI” Lorenzo claimed MVP honors after posting an 8/3/2 KDA using the marksman hero Beatrice.
After grabbing the first blood, Ateneo once again overwhelmed San Sebastian in the second match as they finished off the Golden Stags in just nine minutes. LG’s gold lead ballooned to 10 thousand at one point during the said match. Jungler Kyle Christian “LG kyle so gwapo” Calub was then proclaimed as the best player of the game in Game 2 with his perfect 4/0/5 KDA performance. SSC-R ultimately struggled to catch up to their opponents’ scoring, paving the way for the Katipunan-based team to secure the championship.
As a prize for winning the tournament, LG Helios was awarded USD 600 in cash prizes and ten thousand Mobile Legend Diamonds.
LG Helios Lineup:
PAJENAGO, Vincent Mitzi – LG Antianara
LORENZO, CYRIL DAMON – LG BRANDI
DELA CRUZ, Eugene – LG Gene.
CALUB, Kyle Christian – LG kyle so gwapo
SEE, Sean Jacob – LG seannyqt
ANTOLIN, Sebastian Archer – LG Bow.
BAÑES, Howard Thomas – LG Boward
BARLIN, Gericko Josef – LG Jiko
FUENTES, John Matthew – LG Mattokwa
