Stories of dominion, resurgence mark 2023 in PH esports
by AC Coloma and Kennedy Caacbay, ABS-CBN News · ABS-CBN NewsMANILA - A whirlwind of events took the Filipino esports scene by storm this year, with familiar scenes and emerging titles making headlines throughout 2023.
Among the biggest headlines is the resurgence of League of Legends, while the country continues to stamp its class in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, amid the surge of international teams acquiring imports.
“PH era is not over” in MLBB
The international Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene celebrated local excellence in esports, with the rise of Filipino imports and two Filipino teams prevailing in two world championship stages held this year.
Aside from dominant Blacklist International, who snagged their second MSC and third straight M-series appearances, AP Bren and ECHhave proven their might on the world stage as both teams won the world championships in the Philippines, and in Jakarta, respectively.
AP Bren, in particular, took the world by storm. Bucking controversies and a near closure, the Hive’s players and coaches represented the Philippines in the 2023 Southeast Games and the International Esports Federation World Esports Championships held in Iasi, Romania.
While AP Bren (then Bren Esports) missed MSC, a Pinoy in the name of Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol showed he could make it alongside Indonesia’s Onic Esports to earn the title in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, raising questions on the ability of MPPhilippines teams to dominate in the international stage.
Then came the Filipino-hosted M5 World Championships, which, despite controversies aside concerning the country’s hosting and qualifications for the international Hall of Fame iteration, proved that Filipinos can host tournaments of that caliber.
In the end, AP Bren emerged the winner, shutting down Kairi and storming through in-form Indonesians Calvin “CW” Winata and Gilang “Sanz” in the Grand Finals, going the distance to win the title and settle the debate on the Philippine era.
The rebirth of LOesports in the Philippines
Since the pandemic, the League of Legends scene was nowhere near its peak in the country, as the hype and its esports scene came to a screeching halt with the shut down of internet shops. But as Riot Games reacquired the publishing rights from Garena for the whole of Southeast Asia, things seem to be looking up for the hit Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game.
Riot Games hosted the inaugural Empyrean Cup, a community-based tournament which culminated at the World Trade Center.
Around two hundred teams registered for the tournament, Kimi Salazar, Riot Games Brand Manager said.
Riot also maximized on offline events such as a launch of the game’s spinoff, TeamFight Tactics, and watch parties for the League of Legends World Championship Finals at the Gocheok Sky Dome in South Korea, where hometown heroes T1 would beat odds against Weibo Gaming and reclaim its title.
That game garnered around 6 million views which, according to Esports Charts is the most-viewed esports game ever.
NBA 2K
The NBA 2K professional scene in the Philippines continues to develop -- thanks to recent events held locally and globally.
eGilas Pilipinas, the national team for NBA 2K, also showed its prowess after ruling the Asian qualifiers of eFIBA Open -- also crowning them regional champions in the process.
They also advanced to the semifinals of the eFIBA World Finals in Jönköping, Sweden, only to face heavy favorite Team USA.
Philippine representatives faced defeat at the hands of the Americans, but showed that Filipinos can compete in NBA 2K at the international level.
Meanwhile, hoops fans could expect more NBA 2K events in the future following the success of NBA 2K League Asia-Pacific Invitational held in Quezon City on November 17-18.
Dota 2
It has been quite an unproductive year for the Dota 2 scene in the Philippines, as teams with Pinoys were unsuccessful in bagging top finishes in international tournaments.
Abed "Abed" Yusop and his former team Shopify Rebellion suffered a group stage exit in The International 2023, which prompted the Cavite native to return home and join Blacklist Rivalry.
Kim Villafuerte "Gabbi" Santos' Entity had a better outing in the most prestigious Dota 2 tourney, having eliminated then-defending champions Tundra Esports in the main stage. However, they still fell to Russian esports squad Virtus.pro in the next series.
Together with Abed, Gabbi joined the revamped Blacklist and aced the ESOne Kuala Lumpur closed qualifiers.
The five-man Pinoy team, however, failed to advance to the playoffs of the tilt. Rest assured, Blacklist will still have a chance to prove themselves in 2024.
Blacklist guaranteed its Dota 2 fans that Marc Polo Luis "Raven" Fausto, Timothy "TIMS" Randrup, Carlo "Carlo" Manalo, and the two stars will still don the black and white jersey.