CONCLUDING THE tournament with a silver lining, the Ateneo Blue Eagles forced a deadlock with the De La Salle University (DLSU) Viridis Arcus (VA) Esports, 1-1, as they obtained their first match win. The series took place earlier today at the Areté’s Hyundai Hall in Quezon City.
With this draw, the Blue and White exit the tilt with a 0-1-2 win-draw-loss record in Group A of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Esports tournament.
Ateneo’s match-one victory also prevented VA from progressing to the playoffs, ending their run in the group stage.
Game 1
The Ateneo Blue Eagles quickly found themselves on the losing side of a skirmish at the bottom-side of VA’s jungle, resulting in the death of both Eugene Dela Cruz’s Zhuxin and Christian Corto’s Chip. Rebounding from the early setback, Ateneo secured the Turtle after taking advantage of Fanny’s late entry into the team fight for the objective.
Following the Turtle fight, the game transformed into a tight affair, with each team exchanging kills in every clash. Nonetheless, this standstill was short-lived, as the Blue Eagles blew the game wide open, taking two Turtles and a mid turret to regain the gold lead.
Despite the deficit in gold, DLSU fought back, with Joshua Tating’s Fanny swooping in and grabbing the Lord at the 11-minute mark. With the gold equalized, DLSU continued to capitalize on their advantage. However, Ateneo proceeded to win two crucial team fights and took the Lord to seize a 3,000 gold lead.
Using the Lord to pressure the experience lane, Ateneo managed to open up VA’s base, ultimately resulting in an Ateneo game-one win at 20:39 after spectacular cleanups by Dela Cruz and Sebastian Antolin.
Team Captain Dela Cruz went on a display of emotions following their first game win throughout the tournament. “I’m beyond grateful to the Ateneo community because of their overwhelming support for all three days,” the skipper expressed in a post-game interview, albeit also feeling frustrated by his device.
Although playing the series in his main role as a mage and midlaner, Dela Cruz mentioned that the devices were not as sticky in today’s fixtures. Piling up on the predicament, the team was also sad for not qualifying for playoff contention.
Additionally, the veteran bagged Most Valuable Player honors after tallying an 8-4-10 scoreline with Zhuxin.
Game 2
Moving on to the second game, VA swiftly changed the tune of the match, winning the initial team fights of the early game. La Salle continued to mount on their momentum, winning consecutive clashes to secure an early 3,000 gold advantage at the 5-minute mark.
Although Ateneo repeatedly fought back in the skirmishes, DLSU had built a large enough gold advantage to tear the game down even further, without being stopped. With the game nearly secured, DLSU made one last push at the top side of the map to tie the series against the Blue Eagles, 1-1.
Looking forward to the future, Dela Cruz hopes to gain more support from the Ateneo in preparation for next season’s esports tournament, should it push through in the UAAP calendar.
“We would be able to see a more refined playstyle and a stronger esports team,” the Blue Eagle envisioned.
With the conclusion of Ateneo’s UAAP esports debut, the Blue and White hope to continue contributing to the budding community within the collegiate ranks and aim to come back with a more intact and grounded flock.
Ateneo Blue Eagles lineup:
Sean Jacob See – Ruby on both games
Lyandrei Go Duero – Bane on both games
Eugene Dela Cruz (Team Captain) – Zhuxin, Faramis
Sebastian Archer S. Antolin – Harith on both games
Christian David Corto – Chip, Jawhead
