MANILA, Philippines — Defending champions Lyceum of the Philippines University steadied the ship in Season 2 of the Collegiate Center for Esports (CCE) Mobile Legends: Bang Bang as they ascended to the top of the standings after a shaky start to their title retention bid.
Bouncing back from a shock loss against Arellano in Week 1, LPU swept their three assignments in University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, Mapua University, and College of St. Benilde to regain control of the tournament.
Last season's MVP Mark Kenneth "Mark" Delos Reyes with his Leomord (4/0/17 against Perpetual), and Katarina (8/2/5 against Mapua), as well as Ralph Joshua "Alas" Araz's Khurfa (7/1/10 vs CSB) led the way for the Pirates in their redemption week.
Meanwhile, Letran stopped the Chiefs in their tracks to share the top spot with LPU.
Undaunted by the Chiefs' big win over LPU last week, the Knights stamped class with Joshua Dave "Fezco" Dasigao's Akai leading the way with a 4-1-11 performance.
The Knights, who had lost to LPU in Week 1, also dominated Emilio Aguinaldo College, and CSB.
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.
Both LPU and Letran now hold identical 4-1 slates in the tournament presented by Galaxy Racer, Legion by Lenovo, Smart, Mountain Dew and Hawk Bags, with MPL-Philippines serving as an official partner.
Erstwhile leaders Arellano slid to third at 4-2 with Jose Rizal University, who gained momentum in the playoff race with a 3-0 slate for the week.
CSB, Mapua, and Season 1 runners-up San Sebastian College-Recoletos are in the middle of the pack with 3-3 cards.
EAC (2-4), San Beda (1-5), and Perpetual (0-6) are the backmarkers after two weeks of action.
League president Stanley Lao also recently got to share his wisdom in an "inspirational talk" with student-athletes in LPU last week, which boasts the country's first Esports academic program.