COLEGIO DE San Juan de Letran stole the spotlight in week two of the Collegiate Center for Esports Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Season 2 with a statement win against erstwhile unbeaten Arellano.
The Knights now have a share of lead with reigning champion Lyceum of the Philippines University.
With the Chiefs acting as the revelations in the opening week, it was the Knights who killed off that hype by dominating the former in their meeting and shaking up the CCE leadership anew.
Joshua Dave “Fezco” Dasigao’s Akai was near perfect with a a 4-1-11 kills/death/assists as Letran swept all three matches this week to move to 4-1 in the country’s newest Esports league presented by Galaxy Racer, Legion by Lenovo, Smart, Mountain Dew, and Hawk Bags, with MPL-Philippines serving as an official partner.
The Knights’ lone loss came last week against the Pirates, who likewise blanked their three counterparts this week for a similar 4-1 slate after being stunned by the Chiefs.
Lyceum, hunting for a back-to-back CCE title bid, stamped its class against University of Perpetual Help Sytem Dalta, Mapua U and College of St. Benilde in a searing redemption week.
CCE Season 1 MVP Mark Kenneth “Mark” Delos Reyes with his Leomord (4/0/17 vs Perps) and Katarina (8/2/5 vs Mapua) as well as Ralph Joshua “Alas” Araz with Khufra (7/1/10 vs CSB) took turns in LPU’s 3-0 week.
But the spotlight shone the brightest on the Knights, who also smothered Emilio Aguinaldo College and College of St. Benilde.
Jade Michael “ImbaDeeJade” Mercado (Clint, 6/0/6) and Rafael Carlos “Amen” Silvestre (Barats, 6/0/11) joined Dasigao in capturing MVP citations for Letran, which also got ample support from Mark Raphael “Choco Mael O” Arellano, Matthew “Matsuu” Viray, Rov Jupiter “Jupet” Valles, and Kurt Patrick “Xeero” Pugao.
Week 1 leader Arellano slid to third place with 4-2 card, tied with Jose Rizal U, who also pulled off a 3-0 campaign this week to gain footing in the playoff race with only three matches left in the single-round eliminations.
CSB, Mapua and Season 1 runner-up San Sebastian College-Recoletos had shaky campaigns this week to settle for 3-3 cards as EAC (2-4), San Beda (1-5) and Perpetual (0-6) continued to struggle in the league led by president Stanley Lao and commissioner Waiyip Chong.
As CCE reaches halfway of its second season, Lao also got to share his wisdom in an inspirational talk to student-athletes last week in Lyceum, which boasts the country’s first esports academic program.
Lao put premium on the importance of having a vision – on and off the virtual arenas, in and out of the academe – as a vital key for the students’ respective success whether in the sport or the profession they choose.
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