SIBOL contributed a total of five medals to the country’s brimming list of achievements

The esports industry has achieved a milestone over the weekend after the inaugural esports events of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, held at the Filoil Flying V Arena on December 5-10, 2019, finished successfully.

The Olympic-sanctioned regional multi-sport event saw esports athletes from across Southeast Asia being recognized alongside traditional athletes. Here’s what went down in the historic event.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

Everybody agreed that SIBOL was an underdog when matched against the juggernaut that is Indonesia, the home of the M1 World Championship and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2019 winners. It was true, especially when viewed in an objective aspect, but Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel, Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, Kenneth Jiane “Kenji” Villa, Carlito “Ribo” Ribo Jr., Jason Rafael “Jay” Torculas, Jeniel “Haze” Bata-Anon, Allan Sancio “Lusty” Castromayorproved that just because they are a formidable powerhouse, doesn’t mean necessarily mean that they are invulnerable.

In a full five-game series, SIBOL pulled off a massive upset against Indonesia to claim the gold medal in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang discipline. Despite being assembled from different teams, the Filipino delegates flaunted incredible chemistry that eventually edged off Indonesia’s fundamental-based style of play. During the do-or-die matches, two players played tremendously good to help the Philippines claw their way back into the gold medal contention—Haze and KarlTzy. Haze’s Lolita picks provided on point Noumenon Blasts, while KarlTzy’s mastery of the Mage role ensured that SIBOL’s offense is covered.

The Philippines’ 3-2 win in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang discipline also marks the country’s first regional championship title since Aether Main’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup victory in 2018.

DOTA 2

SIBOL’s second gold medal in the esports category came from the Dota 2 discipline, but just like how the first one was earned, it didn’t come off easily. Marvin Salvador “Boomy” Rushton, John Anthony “Natsumi-“ Vargas, Bryle Jacob “cml” Alvizo, Jun “Bok” Kanehara, Mc Nicholson “Mac” Villanueva, James “Erice” Guerra, and Van Jerico ”Van” Manalaysay were on a very good spot to win it all after scoring a series of convincing victories from the group stages to the upper bracket finals against Vietnam despite a mid-tournament patch release. However, the grand finals weren’t as forgiving as their past ventures.

The Filipinos showed some signs of struggles after Thailand, who was backed by Fnatic’s Anucha ”Jabz” Jirawong and Nuengnara “23savage” Teeramahanon, continued to retaliate with a win every time they take the series lead. All five games of the meeting were expended, and even then, Sibol was found deep in the trenches of their opponent’s 17-kill score and 10k gold lead advantages, 30 minutes into the do-or-die match.

At that point, the host country’s only remaining win condition was a miracle, and it came in the form of Boomy’s clutch two-man Blackhole that caught the visitor’s two core heroes—23savage’s Drow Ranger and Poomipat ”Fearless” Trisiripanit’s Viper—after a failed Roshan attempt. In one team fight, SIBOL was able to steal not only the lead off of Thailand’s hands, but also their claim on the gold medal in the Dota 2 discipline, 3-2.

StarCraft II

If the first two gold medals got Filipino esports fans chewing their nails off of nervousness, the country’s victory in the StarCraft II discipline came out to be a stomp. SIBOL’s Caviar Napoleon ”Enderr” Acampado proved to be too much for Singapore’s Thomas ”Blsyk” Kopankiewicz after the Filipino’s Zerg chewed off his opponent’s Protoss in a convincing 4-1 victory.

But despite the one-sided win, Blysk was ultimately able to pose a threat against Enderr’s gold medal campaign. Not only because the Singaporean’s race of choice was significantly buffed while Zerg got some nerfs, but Blysk was also coming from a four-win lower bracket run that included a drubbing off of the eventual bronze medalist, Vietnam’s Tran “MeomaikA” Hong Phuc, who EnDerr defeated via base race in a tight 3-2 series.

In addition, Blysk was also the only player who was able to counter Enderr’s unstoppable offense in the group stages. Yup, the undisputed Filipino StarCraft II champion’s sole defeat in his 10-1 win-loss record in the initial tournament phase was drawn by the visiting contender. Amidst all the factors that point away from the working student’s victory, Enderr’s mastery of Zerg and the game earned him a golden addition to his medal and trophy collection.

In addition, Blysk was also the only player who was able to counter Enderr’s unstoppable offense in the group stages. Yup, the undisputed Filipino StarCraft II champion’s sole defeat in his 10-1 win-loss record in the initial tournament phase was drawn by the visiting contender. Amidst all the factors that point away from the working student’s victory, Enderr’s mastery of Zerg and the game earned him a golden addition to his medal and trophy collection.

Hearthstone

While the entire event was a historic achievement for the esports industry at large, the Hearthstone discipline was especially important for Malaysia as it paved the way for their first esports athlete gold medalist, Yew Weng ”wkyew90” Kean. An Electrical Engineering PhD holder and associate professor at Heriot Watt University, wkyew90 climbed his way from the quarter-final of the loser’s round to secure slot in the gold medal match. The 29-year-old esports athlete edging out Thailand’s Werit ”Disdai” Popan, 3-1, in the best-of-five grand finals, thanks to a Murloc-empowered Shaman Deck that slammed the nail in his opponent’s coffin.

Meanwhile, SIBOL contenders, Jacinta ”Jia” Dee and Dustin “WaningMoon” Mangulabnan, failed to make it out of the group stages.

Tekken 7

In terms of experience, skill, and international exposure, there was only one contender in the 2019 SEA Games that could have posed a serious threat against the dream that is an all-Filipino gold medal match between Alexandre ”AK” Laverez and Andreij ”Doujin” Albar—Nopparut “Book” Hempamorn.

Prior to the regional multi-sport event and the Tekken World Tour Finals 2019, the world championship of Bandai Namco’s fighting game that the delegates attended over the weekend, Book was the only player who has more Tekken World Tour points compared to SIBOL’s bets. After AK’s 3-0 victory against the Jin main last Saturday in the aforementioned finals, however, the Filipino fans had more room to breathe.

But the Book that AK defeated last weekend was far from the Book that appeared at the Filoil Flying V Arena. Gone too is his signature Jin, and was replaced instead with an Akuma. The Thai contender completed an upper bracket run, forcing both Filipinos’ to fight in the lower bracket finals, and finally securing it for his country after AK failed to match Book’s Akuma skils to reset the bracket in their grand final meeting, 3-1.

Arena of Valor

Before Book’s hard-fought gold medal in Tekken 7, Thailand was already enjoying a gold medal from the Arena of Valor discipline after the boys from Working Point Fish wasted no time in drubbing Indonesia, 3-0, in the grand finals.

Before flaunting their flawless execution and objective-based style of play, however, the same squad that claimed the gold were defeated by the same opponent they swept during their upper bracket finals meeting. From then on, however, Thailand seemed to have forgotten how to lose, sweeping Vietnam in the bronze medal match, before exacting revenge against the boys from EVOS Esports.

SIBOL’s Arena of Valor representatives, meanwhile, bowed of the contest early on after their sole 2-0 victory against Myanmar failed to clinch them a spot in the playoffs.