LOYOLA GAMING (LG) Hydra dominated the first two rounds of the AcadArena (AA) Alliance Games (ALLG) Season 3 Playoffs, advancing to the League of Legends Grand Finals at this year’s CONQuest Festival 2023. Meanwhile, both the LG Atlas and LG Altair were eliminated from title contention in the Valorant and Call of Duty: Mobile Quarterfinals, respectively.
The ALLG quarterfinals were held on June 2 at the SMX Convention Center and at the National University – Mall of Asia Campus in Pasay City. Consequently, the semifinals of the various Esports tournaments were played today, June 3, in the same venues.
LG Hydra (League of Legends)
The Blue and White kicked off their playoff campaign in the quarterfinals against the University of St. La Salle (USLS) Rektikano on June 2. The best-of-three series proved to be an exciting one, with LG Hydra taking the first game of the quarterfinals series while USLS bounced back with a win in Game 2—forcing a deciding rubber match. However, the Blue and White’s championship experience was enough to lift them past the Bacolod-based squad with a convincing win in the series clincher, notching 24 kills to USLS’ eight. Ateneo would then advance to the next round, winning the series 2-1.
In their semifinals match the following day, LG Hydra posted an excellent 2-0 sweep versus the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Teletigers (TG). Banking on their scaling composition, the Blue and White managed to pull away with back-to-back incredible performances late in the game to put away the Teletigers. Gaetano “LG Galatadiff” Scarlata Jr. led Hydra in their opening match using Wukong, while Team Captain Josh “LG Znake” Dinio and Zed “LG Swapito” Dy’s combined heroics were on full display in their final match.
Setting the tone for Game 2, Hydra’s crowd control played a significant role in shutting down UST’s chances at recovering in the final minutes, with TG notably refusing to play a tank. A swift double kill by Dinio in the 14th minute of the game tilted the match in favor of LG at the latter stages.
With their backs against the wall, TG quickly countered the Blue and White’s advances by focusing on their objectives and pushing the side lanes. However, a 4-0 team fight in favor of Team Hydra, including another double kill by Dinio, allowed the Atenean quintet to take a comfortable gold lead at the 17th minute. In their bid to control the Baron, LG Hydra forced a 4-0 team and controlled the match from then on, overpowering TG to advance to the Finals.
“[There’s] definitely a lot of pressure since we’re the last remaining LG team, but at the same time we’re really excited to get back to the Finals,” the graduating Dinio shared.
The Blue and White will face rival Viridis Arcus Fonce of De La Salle University for the championship tomorrow, June 4 at 1:00 PM at the SMX Convention Center Esports Stage.
LG Atlas (Valorant)
The Blue and White fell short in an attempt to return to the Alliance Games Finals as the newly-formed LG Atlas fell to the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJR) Adelante Esports, 0-2, yesterday in Pasay City.
Despite putting up a string of good performances prior to the playoffs, Atlas’ failure to gain any sort of momentum in both matches resulted in their early exit from the Alliance Games playoffs.
USJR Adelante Esports secured their spot in the semifinals in a decisive fashion, outplaying LG Atlas with 13-5 and 13-4 wins.
LG Altair (Call of Duty: Mobile)
In their first-ever outing at the Alliance Games quarterfinals, LG Altair ultimately succumbed to New Era University’s (NEU) PDG Odyssey, 1-3, yesterday at the National University – Mall of Asia Campus.
Gavin “LG Gav” Aquino led the Blue and White in their first round Hardpoint match with 30 kills, but Altair ultimately fell in a lopsided 135-250 loss to NEU.
However, LG quickly bounced back with a second round victory in Search and Destroy. Abram “LG Banana” Fajardo topped the match and copped 17 kills in their 7-4 rout of PDG Odyssey.
Despite this win, the Blue and White’s momentum would run out in their next two rounds, dropping their Control Phase match 0-3. The series would ultimately end with Altair absorbing a 225-250 loss in their final Hardpoint match.