La Salle's Viridis Arcus reigns supreme in CCE's University Clash Season 4

MANILA, Philippines – The Collegiate Center of Esports's (CCE) University Clash Mobile Legends Bang Bang saw a different team lift the trophy for its fourth season. This as De La Salle University's (DLSU) Viridis Arcus swept Far Eastern University's (FEU) TFX Nireus, 3-0, in the grand finals in the Philippine GameDev Expo (PGDX) at the SMX Convention Center.

Heading into the grand finals, Viridis Arcus had also eliminated reigning three-peat champions Lyceum of the Philippines Pirate Esports to give CCE its first non-NCAA grand final as the tournament welcomed schools outside the league for its fourth season.

"Ang CCE dati kasi, from Season 1 to Season 3, nakafocus lang tayo sa NCAA teams. Doon napakita nila na magaling sila. Dito sa Season 4, [we opened to outside NCAA schools], from 180 teams down to one. Doon talaga mapapatunayan kung sino talaga ang pinakamagaling sa Pilipinas," said CCE president Stanley Lao.  

In Game 1, DLSU mounted early lead and rushed to end the game in the 12th minute. But FEU managed to stage a good defense and even secured the next two lords to change the pace of the game. It all came to head during the clash at the fourth lord, with DLSU securing four kills on the side of FEU to end the almost 23-minute game, 25-13.

"Tingin ko masyadong nakampante [sila], kaya after nun sabi ko sa kanila wag maliitin, kalma lang. Everytime na manalo, reset lang." said coach Kenneth Jiane “Kenji” Villa, who is no stranger to the MLBB scene having been part of Sibol's gold medal team during the 30th Southeast Asian Games in 2019 and was part of RSG's team (though not in the main five) when they won MPL Philippines Season 9. Currently, Villa is part of reigning MDL Philippine champions, RRQ Kaito.

FEU became more aggressive in Game 2, keeping up with DLSU's pace and securing tower objectives to hand the Tamaraws the gold advantage heading into the first lord of the game. But it was still DLSU who secured the objective and took the gold lead, regaining control of the map. By the second lord, DLSU pulled off a wipeout and ended the game just as FEU's heroes started respawning to propel them to match point.

With just one win away, DLSU wasted no time in Game 3, taking an early 9-0 lead to finish the series in less than 10 minutes to win their first their first title in the tournament.