Beefed-up teams out foil LPU Pirates’ three-peat bid in college MLBB tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Teams in the Collegiate Center for Esports (CCE) are deep in preparation months before the collegiate Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament kicks off this May.

As two-time champion Lyceum of the Philippines University remains the favorite after its short stint in the Sibol qualifiers for the upcoming 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, the nine other squads are looking to sink the Pirates once and for all.

Despite being the standard of the league so far, teams like Season 2 runners-up Colegio de San Juan de Letran are out to prove it's not going to be easy to pull off a three-peat.

The Cyberknights will continue to lean on the efforts of Kurt “Xeero” Pugao and Jade “ImbaDeeJade” Mercado as the Pirates have back-to-back CCE MVP Mark Kenneth “Mark” Delos Reyes still in their crew.

Among other teams looking to pose a challenge are Arellano University and Jose Rizal University, while Season 1 runners-up San Sebastian College-Recoletos remains a tough draw for any team.

"It's humbling to see how the schools have embraced Esports and we're just glad to be part of its growth in the academe," said CCE president Stanley Lao, who is supported by Commissioner Waiyip Chong and general manager Jesse Nocom.

Local qualifiers are already ongoing among schools in search of the best Esports athletes that their campus can produce to represent their school in the tilt supported by Galaxy Racer and Smart, with SM Mall of Asia, Cyberzone, Legion by Lenovo, Mountain Dew, Hawk Bags, Fantech, Huawei AppGallery as sponsors, and MPL-Philippines serving as an official partner.

Other teams competing in the tournament are Mapua University, College of St. Benilde, Emilio Aguinaldo College, San Beda University and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA.