LOYOLA GAMING sophomore Paolo “Altershot” Riosa notched first place at the Esports AcadArena (EAA) Aces Campus Open – Teamfight Tactics (TFT) on Sunday, October 18.
The tournament featured a two-game qualifying round where the 32 participants were grouped into four brackets. The top two players of each bracket then proceeded to the final round based on a cumulative point system, competing in three more games in their bid to notch first place.
Clever tactics
Entering the tournament, Riosa played with a Divine-centered strategy as the tournament’s patch included a powerful Synergy. Throughout his first match, Riosa’s High Roll and Divine Composition strategies were effective—resulting in his triumph with 10 points.
However, the succeeding game saw Riosa gather champions that were overpowered by the competition. Despite this, he played the opponents’ boards to his advantage and finished the match with eight points.
At the end of the qualifying round, Riosa finished with 18 points to book a spot in the finals as one of the top two players in his bracket.
Defying the odds
Unlike the qualifying round, the finals demanded a different level of play from Riosa since six of the finalists ranked among the top 50 TFT players in the Philippines. Because of the intimidating competition roster, Riosa’s nerves got the best of him in his first finals match. However, he successfully flipped the switch because his acquisition of Warwick allowed him to still come out on top with 10 points.
In the second game of the finals, the stakes were raised as six of the finalists—including Riosa—utilized the Divine strategy, forcing him to rethink his plan of attack. After a few rounds of play, the match escalated when Riosa and his opponent stood on even ground. After carefully analyzing the board, Riosa outwitted his opponent by repositioning one of his champions to notch another first place finish with 10 points.
In the final game, Riosa’s performance dipped as he fell to his opponents’ boards. Despite this, his board still allowed him to finish the final match at third place to garner six points.
By the end of the final round, Riosa’s 26 cumulative points were enough to secure first place. Though emerging victorious, Riosa acknowledged that he still has a lot of room to grow, particularly with his confidence and decision making in the finals. “I learned that I should be more confident in my skill and that I shouldn’t doubt myself too much,” he shared.
