The sound of arrows flying overhead fill the air as tiny, uniformed cartoon barbarians rush over dynamite traps to overwhelm an imposing walled structure.

Cannon fire blasts through the mass of melee warriors, decimating their advance. Suddenly, a bright light shines over the barbarian hordes. Its rejuvenating power heals them just enough to allow them to overrun the village’s defenses.

The action is projected over a large, LCD screen. A crowd gathers to watch the action unfold. Some are cheering, some are talking animatedly with each other.

Each one of them a certified Clash of Clan (CoC) fan from around Metro Manila.

Clash of Clans, the worldwide, smash-hit mobile strategy game by Finnish developer Supercell, is one the most compelling games on the smartphone and tablet market in recent years.

The strategic gameplay mixed with cutesy graphics has made it a darling among causal gamers and the more competitive gaming audience.

This year, Smart Communications and the Philippine eSports Organization (PeSO) teamed up to bring the largest CoC event to Filipno fans.

The Philippine Clash 2015 is poised to offer over P2 million in prizes for participating teams, including a P500,000 total payday for the champions at the grand finals.

But before they even get to the grand final, people from all walks of life entered the first leg of the qualifiers at the SM Light Mall, near the Boni Station MRT today, August 2, 2015.

30 teams will be competing to win this leg of the qualifiers. Aside from winning a slot to the grand finals later this September, the team that will walk away the victor today will receive P10,000 cash.

This, among other incentives, have brought over all manner of people to join the tournament.

AVENGERS. Jonah Hiponia (second from right) and her family are among 29 other clans looking to win the NCR leg of the Philippine Clash 2015 qualifiers.

After playing for over a year, Jonah Hiponia, together with her siblings and significant other, decided to test their mettle and pit their clan against other top clans in Manila.

Their clan, called Clash Avengers, have collectively been playing for at least a year, with members having joined other high-level clans and participated in clan wars in the past.

“We make it an effort to play at all times of the day,” she said. “We haven’t spent a lot of money on this game. We’ve tried and kept it balanced at around P5,000.”

In CoC, players can join other players to create a Clan — a lo0se confederation of their villages. These clans help each other by sending over military forces to help them defend against interlopers. These same troops can also be used by their clan members to break through opponent’s bases.

In a clan war, clans actively attack each other for points at a set period of time. Each attack ransacks the enemy’s resource reserves and a successful raid nets them points. The highest points between clans at the end of the war determines the victor.

Like most modern games, CoC is free-to-play, but the game does feature a micro-transaction option to buy power-ups. In the highly competitive world of clan wars, some of the top players from around the world sink real money to stay on top.

In the Philippines however, competitive CoC players temper their spending by playing the game for long hours.

Kings of glory, a team composed of office workmates from Makati, said that they play up to nine hours in a given day to limit their spending on the game to just P1,000 a month.

All about the friendships

Despite the competitive aspect of CoC however, many still enjoy the game as a way to relieve boredom or to spend time with friends.

Even among teams present for the NCR qualifiers, many players have joined in on the fun precisely because it is their barkada’s main source of entertainment

The comically named Pabebe boys find CoC as an incentive to always spend time with their friends.

“It’s a good pastime,” said one of their members who refused to be named. They were too busy rushing about to get to the clan area just before the event started.

“And maybe win money and new gadgets,” laughed another member of their team.

PABEBE. Named after a now infamous internet meme, this team from Manila is composed of a fun-loving group of friends who are looking to prove themselves on the cartoon battlefield.

The team told me that they’ve been playing together for a year, spending six to eight hours daily to keep up.  This is on top of their regular jobs and other commitments.

They keep at it anyway, as it is a source of fun for their group of friends. It also makes for great friendly banter when they get together.

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