THE ATENEO Blue Eagles dropped both matches against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Teletigers Esports Club in the semifinal round of the first-ever University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Valorant Esports Tournament. Having lost the chance to cement themselves as finalists, the Blue Eagles ended their Valorant campaign with a bronze finish.
The series took place yesterday at the Areté’s Hyundai Hall in Quezon City.
Map 1 – Sunset
Entering their map pick, Ateneo’s team composition consisted of John Michael Amador on Sova, Juan Antonio Rosales on Breach, Christian Emmanuel Owen on Omen, Joaquin Stuart De Guia on Cypher, and Joaquin Angelo Antonio on Neon.
Throughout the match, the crowd saw both teams adopt a slow playstyle as the Blue Eagles and Teletigers waited for the opposing team to make mistakes, such as peeking angles too early or missing their shots.
Starting on the attacker side, the Blue and White successfully planted the spike with three members left on the team versus UST’s lone player, Angelo Kyan Ysibido (Omen). Against all odds, Ysibido clutched the round with his heroics by outclassing each Blue Eagle with precise and skilled gunplay, 1-0.
Despite the humiliating opener, the Katipunan-based squad maintained their composure and won the next round by forcing the purchase of Sheriffs and successfully hitting their shots. With a good economy, the Blue Eagles were able to win the next two rounds using their superior guns, 3-1.
However, Carl Angelo Baldovia (Cypher) was the Teletigers’ key in halting Ateneo’s momentum in the fifth round through vital kills with his Sheriff, helping UST gain another round win, 2-3. With unsuccessful hits in the first half, Ateneo’s strategies were abruptly denied by UST’s site defenders as they were only able to win one more round on the attacker side, 4-8.
The Blue Eagles continued to fall prey to UST’s superior attacks in the second half, losing all rounds and surrendering the match point to the Teletigers, 12-4. As their first match was on the line, Ateneo finally took a round in the second half through a successful site retake. With their hopes up, the Blue Eagles decided to change their pace and attack the Teletigers before they got a chance to execute their strategies, 6-12.
In the 19th round, however, the Teletigers decided to meet the Blue Eagles head-on as they clashed at A Main. Trades came in from both teams as either team sought to have the last man standing. The Blue and White ultimately faltered to UST’s firepower, only winning two rounds in the second half, 6-13. Antonio led the team in frags with 17 kills in the map.
Map 2 – Icebox
Seeking to rebound from their loss at Sunset, the Blue Eagles moved to Icebox with the intention of forcing a third map. Ateneo selected Agents Sova (Amador), Viper (Rosales), Gekko (Owen), Killjoy (De Guia), and Reyna (Antonio), which closely matched UST’s picks for the second map.
On the defender side of Icebox, the Blue Eagles were unable to repel the Teletigers’ advances to A site, giving the España-based squad free rein to dominate the first two rounds of the half, 0-2. Ateneo’s Rosales struck back in the third round, winning a clutch standoff against Damien Joshua Santos’ Gekko off a clever fake defuse, 1-2.
In the first full buy round, Antonio picked off the enemy Killjoy at A but could not secure a clean victory during a 2v2 at B site, 1-3. The following rounds saw Ateneo struggling to outmatch the Teletigers’ assaults as their deficit stretched to four, 1-5. Amador, however, decided to cut the string of defeats, clutching a 1v3 scenario via a nicely-timed shock dart and flick shot, 2-5.
The Blue and White began to match UST’s firepower in the next few rounds, highlighted by their flawless victory in round 10, 6-4. Ateneo maintained their tempo throughout the rest of the half, equalizing the score at six-all courtesy of Rosales’ decisive 1v1 Vandal headshot before the switch.
Assuming the role of attackers at the second half, the Blue Eagles were suddenly greeted by UST’s commanding pistol round performance. The defeat continued with Ateneo’s failure to capitalize on the bonus round, which sparked their second losing streak and resulted in a 7-10 deficit. The Blue and White’s skid proved costly, as the Teletigers continuously pushed their advantage via decisive picks from John Matthew Cuaresma’s spectacular OP skills.
With UST securing match point, Ateneo and Rosales fought to reverse the tide of the losing game. However, Rosales was taken down by an OP shot by Cuaresma in the game’s final moments, closing the semifinal match at 7-13.
Despite the defeat, the Blue Eagles exited the inaugural UAAP Valorant tournament as bronze medalists. They concluded their journey as worthy contenders, hoping to make a finals run in the next tournament.
Ateneo Blue Eagles lineup:
Joaquin Stuart De Guia
Juancho Manuel Garcia
John Michael Amador
Christian Emmanuel Owen
Joaquin Angelo Antonio
Juan Antonio Rosales
