Lyceum, Ateneo banner Philippine squads in Vietnam collegiate MLBB invitiational

MANILA, Philippines — Four Philippine squads will be competing in a Mobile Legends: Bang Bang invitational tournament for collegiate squads in Vietnam this weekend.

Lyceum of the Philippines and Ateneo's LG Helios, who were Collegiate Center for Esports (CCE) Season 1 and CCE University Clash Invitational champions, respectively, will test their mettle against top college MLBB teams in the MPS SEA Campus Invitational Summer 2022 slated on October 7-9.

LPU and LG Helios, along with San Sebastian and UST's Teletigers Esports Club, will face off against teams like Dangerous Guys (DG) Team, Chi Th? Ngok (CTN), Nextplay Esports and C? Kinh Tê TP Ho Chi Minh (HCE).

The invitational dangles $US600, excluding in-game rewards, to the champion of the tournament while the runner-up and semifinalists are set to receive $US400 and $US200, respectively.

In the competition supported by VNG Games and Moonton, the eight teams are grouped into two as they will compete in a round robin format.

Top two teams from each group will advance to the crossover final round in a single elimination tournament to determine the top team.

LG Helios and Lyceum are in Group A with CTN and HTE while Group B will have the Teletigers, San Sebastian, Nextplay and DG Team.

The Vietnam teams are under the tutelage of ESCA -- an esports organization in Vietnam promoting the sport in colleges and universities, similar to CCE's push in the Philippines.

CCE President Stanley Lao expressed excitement in cooperating with an organization like ESCA to banner Philippine esports to the world.

"We're proud to open doors for Filipino esports student-athletes and we're excited to see them compete with the other players in the Southeast Asian region. We believe that the Filipino players could be considered as among the best in Southeast Asia, if not the world," he said.