Rise of Cebuano VALORANT and a Sunday full of sweeps – AcadArena Alliance Games Week 3 Recap

Collegiate action in the third week of the AcadArena Alliance Games showcased the rise of Cebuano talent in VALORANT and a Sunday full of series sweeps in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) and Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM).

VALORANT

Via AcadArena

The first match of Week 3 featured Ateneo de Naga University’s Golden Galiants going against Bulacan State University’s Golden Gears. Just like a pendulum, the game swayed for both teams with multiple thrifty round-wins for each side. The Golden Galiants eventually prevailed in the second half to move on to the next round. However, they faced a resurging UPD Oblation Esports side later that same day and saw their All-G run end after a 13-5 loss.

Meanwhile, two up-and-coming VALORANT squads from Cebu, University of San Jose – Recoletos Jaguars Esports and Cebu Institute of Technology-University’s Wildcats Esports League, both dominated in their respective matches. The Jaguars stalked and pounced OLFU Esports en route to a 13-6 victory. Meanwhile, the Wildcats overpowered iAcademy’s Elix Hydra to convincingly win 13-4. Victory against Elix Hydra tasted a bit sweeter for the Wildcats this time around as it was no longer a win by default.

Lastly, LPE Sparrows pushed through adversity as they won both of their matches within the day. First, they showed PLM’s Atomos Haribons who truly ruled the skies as they won their heated match 13-11. They finally stamped their way into the group stages after taking down FEU’s Tams FX 13-5 on Icebox.

Here are some outstanding players throughout the weekend:

• Former Zeal Esports stand-in Kurt “Asta” Stanley anchored Ascent as Killjoy which led to the Jaguars’ win against OLFU Esports.
• LPE’s Ryan Louie “Xty” Juanitez managed to snag two Aces in their match against the Tamaraws.
• UPD’s Kennet Micah McGil “Chorizo” Ramirez II gave a Chamber site-hold tutorial after recording a 4K against the Golden Galiants.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Screenshot from AcadArena’s livestream

The third week of MLBB Alliance Games featured quick sweeps and familiar throwback picks.

The first game featured a heated match-up by two MLBB juggernauts in PNU Sulo and HAU Valiant Esports Club. Despite both teams being considered strong contenders, HAU easily and quickly dealt with PNU as they swept them in their series. Game 1 finished in under 12 minutes while Game 2 ended just seconds shy of the 14-minute mark.

In the second series of the day, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) MAD SAIYANS stayed true to their name and went super Saiyan on Systems Plus College Foundation’s Panthera Esports. The MAD SAIYANS hastily dispatched the Panthers in their first game after 13 minutes and wrapped up the series in similar fashion come Game 2.

Lastly, TUP-T’s Grayhawks went up against CSB Romançon Gaming Astra. Their series was comparatively longer than the other matchups held on that day but it still ended in a sweep in favor of the Grayhawks. The Grayhawks took their time to scale up during both games in the series to finish off Romançon before they knew what hit them.

With so many throwback picks last Sunday, here’s a rundown of a few eyebrow-raising picks:

• PNU’s John Steven “Red.” Cantado brought out the Akai jungle for their second game against HAU.
• MSU-IIT’s Michael Lance “Sakeriyo” Vergara turned back time and used Diggie proactively for vision control on the map.
• Romançon Gaming Astra’s Yuri Efraim “Ķäľăçĥûćĥï” Casabuena took out Carmilla for a spicy attempt to take down the Grayhawks.

Call of Duty: Mobile

It was also a day full of sweeps in Week 3 of the Call of Duty: Mobile play-ins that saw only two out of the three matchups featured live.

FEU’s FIT Dasig opened up the matches for the day with a 3-0 drubbing of OLFU’s OLFU Esports. FIT Dasig dominated their games from start to finish, never letting OLFU take the lead for a moment.

In the second match, HCA’s HCA PGDN7 won by default against SPCF’s UNP Cybersharks after the SPCF representatives were disqualified for failing to enter the in-game room on time⁠—an unfortunate end to the Cybersharks’ promising campaign.

Meanwhile, Malayan Warlocks of MCL served up a quick 3-0 win against Teletigers Phoenix of UST in the final livestreamed match of the day to complete their lower bracket run in Group E.

Results from the matchups held off-stream are as follows:

• NEU’s Paradigm Caelestis (3-0) vs CSJL’s Cyberknights (0-3)
• PLM’s Pewpew Haribons (3-0) vs NUL’s NU-L Alpha Gaming (0-3)
• MSUIIT’s MTE Fulminare (3-0) vs FSUU’s Urios Team Dionysus (0-3)
• PUP’s Pylon Phantoms (3-0) vs CPU’s GLE Simba (0-3)

Via AcadArena

FIT Dasig’s Jyke “JykeFT” Gapasin was named player of the day for his efforts against OLFU carrying the statline of 22 kills, 14 deaths, and 6 assists along with 5 captures.

The AcadArena Alliance Games are livestreamed on their Facebook page and official website. For more information on off-stream matches, schedules, and results, you can visit AcadArena’s Alliance Games page.

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