USC Esports Teams Bag Championships In Cebu City Mayor’s Cup 2019
Photo by Berns Mitra
Teams representing the University of San Carlos as well as individual Carolinians took home trophies from the very first Cebu City Mayor’s Cup last March 22 to 24, 2019 at Robinson’s Galleria.
USC teams took the competition by storm. In the interschool division, Team Fluid, consisting entirely of students from the School of Arts and Sciences, were crowned the League of Legends champions with a stage-shaking Pentakill from Earl Santos. USC DotA 2 secured USC’s MOBA supremacy by rising to the top of their division. The USC Mobile Legends team also brought the school pride by taking fourth place. Team Fluid’s Ian Guzman competed under Ruyal Esports, which bagged the League of Legends championship in the open division.
“I feel great that we were able to get this far and win,” Santos celebrated. “I’m just glad that my passion for esports is rewarded and that my team gained the respect of the local League [of Legends] scene. The prize money is nice, but what’s more important is that it proves that esports isn’t a dead end.”
Team Fluid, USC DotA 2, and Ruyal Esports will each get PHP 15,000 to split among their teammates. To get to this point, the interschool division teams had to beat competitors from Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu, University of San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu Institute of Technology – University, among others.
Team Fluid also won in the esports events of this year’s USC intramurals, which did not receive support from the school administration but was organized with the help of DYNACOM. This prompted a group of students to work toward the recognition of esports in USC. Their efforts have been fruitful, with an esports organization set to roll out next semester that is expected to lead to recognized esports varsity teams.
Core organizer and Carolinian Jolu Escaño explained that the event was part of the Cebu City government’s anti-drug campaign of promoting esports in lieu of substance abuse. “We wanted to promote responsible gaming by showing the public good role models in the players, who have to practice proper time management to both practice and maintain the grade requirements to qualify for the competition,” he elaborated.
The other games featured in the cup include Tekken 7, Pokémon Go, RF Online, Flyff, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Special Force 1, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
The event was organized by Cebu Esports United, ARCHCon Cebu, and UNITY Productions in partnership with the Cebu City Government.
