Guardian's Hive swept We Dominate Botside 2-0 in the finals of the inaugural League of Legends PH Empyrean Cup.
With the win, Guardian's Hive secured the championship title and the grand prize of PHP 500,000 from the PHP 1 million prize pool.
Tournament Highlights
Riot Games has once again taken the Philippine gaming scene by storm with Empyrean Cup, the first official League of Legends (LoL) tournament in the country, after regaining publishing rights for both LoL and Teamfight Tactics earlier this year. The competitive League of Legends esports tournament has reignited the enthusiasm of the local LoL community, with eight teams battling it out on stage at the 2023 Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS), held recently at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
The Empyrean Cup tournament, organized by Riot Games, was a huge event that received an overwhelming response from the local League of Legends community. More than 200 teams signed up from different parts of the country. As a Gold Exhibitor and supporter of ESGS and the local gaming scene, Riot Games hosted the grand finals of the tournament at the event. The top eight teams—Guardian's Hive, We Dominate Botside, Looking for Sponsor, Surrender at 20, Nobles, Godsend Esports, Montalvan, and Ninja Alpha—competed against each other to claim the championship title.
We Dominate Botside won over ESGS defending champions Looking for Sponsor with a reverse sweep 2-1 in the semifinals, setting them up to face Guardian's Hive.
Guardian's Hive emerged victorious in the tournament, defeating all other teams and ultimately claiming the championship title with a 2-0 win over We Dominate Botside in the grand finals. Further, as the Empyrean Cup champion, the team bagged the PHP 500,000 prize from the PHP 1 million prize pool.
Guardian's Hive roster:
- Darwin "GH MIDKING" Santos
- Michael Jay "GH Austerity" Gawala
- Christian "GH Celest" Grecia
- Marc Jazztine "GH Moopz" Barrion
- Cruise June "GH Cruise" Tilos
- Clarence Paul "GH Renascence" Layoso
Gawala, also known as "GH Austerity," showcased his exceptional esports combat skills during the finals, leading the squad to victory. His past international experience playing LoL esports played a significant role in this achievement.
Gawala said:
Less kaba lang. Mas alam ko kung ano yung tamang 'shot-call,' ibinibigay ko sa mga kakampi [ko] (I was less nervous. I was more familiar with giving the right ‘shot-call’ to my teammates).
Santos, or "GH MIDKING," sees Guardian's Hive's victory as a significant milestone in his gaming journey.
Santos shared:
Personally, sobrang big deal sa akin ito kasi dapat tumigil na ako mag-LoL. Bumalik lang ako nung nag-announce ng Empyrean Cup. Nag-grind lang ako ng solo ulit then 'yun. Good thing nagkaroon ng chance at opportunity na nakapasok (Personally, it's quite a big deal for me because I stopped playing LoL. I went back to playing it when the Empyrean Cup was announced. I went on a solo grind. It's a good thing there was a chance and an opportunity to enter [the cup]).
Guardian's Hive competed in the first leg of the Empyrean Cup qualifiers but fell short of reaching the top four. However, they made a significant roster change in the second leg, which turned out to be a game-changer for them. This led them to secure a spot in the grand finals at ESGS.
Riot Games is encouraged by the enthusiastic response of Filipino gamers to the Empyrean Cup and will continue to engage and strengthen the local LoL community.
Kimi Salazar, MOBA Brand Manager at Riot Philippines, attributed their success to listening to the LoL community.
Salazar said:
Since Riot Games Philippines was established here last year, we've been constantly listening to what the community and what the players are saying. We want everyone to know that we hear you, we're listening and this is why we're doing this now. As we are scaling, building our team and all of our capacities here, the Empyrean Cup is only the first of what we're going to do for the community. For us, it's very important that our Filipino players see that the Philippines is a priority market for APAC for League of Legends. We will continue investing, not just next year but also for the next couple of years, to elevate the competitive community and the gaming community again for League of Legends. This is but a first. Abangan ninyo (Stay tuned).
Riot Games was established in 2006 with the aim to create, publish, and maintain games that prioritize players' interests worldwide. In 2009, the company introduced its first game, League of Legends, which has become the most popular PC game globally. Since then, Riot has produced other games such as Teamfight Tactics (TFT) and VALORANT. They have also expanded the universe of Runeterra by developing multimedia projects like music, comic books, board games, and the Netflix series Arcane.
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