Sibol reasserts Mobile Legends mastery, nips Indonesia for SEA Games gold

MANILA, Philippines — Sibol defended their gold medal in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event in the 31st Southeast Asian Games after a tight match-up against rivals Indonesia on Friday.

The finals, reminiscent of 2019 SEA Games finals, saw Sibol once again facing Team Indonesia for the gold medal. The squad -- composed of Filipino gamers Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna, Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario,Salic “Hadji” Imam, Dominic “Dominic” Soto and Howard “Owl” Gonzales, alongside Russel Aaron “Eyon” Usi, Dexter Louise “DEX STAR” C. Alaba, Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani, and Krisstoffer “BON CHAN” -- had an unbeaten record in the group stages but lost their first game against Singapore in the semifinals. They then forced a decider and took the next two games to book their slot in the finals.

For its part, Team Indonesia wasted no time in their semifinal match, sweeping Malaysia 2-0.

Game One saw Indonesia take down many of Jonmar "OhMyV33NUS" Villaluna's favored heroes. But Sibol retaliated by drawing first blood and the first turtle, keeping control of the map at the early stages of the game.

An impatient push to end the first game at the 23rd minute saw Sibol overextend to destroy the base, costing themselves four heroes and giving Indonesia a chance to defend. The nearly half an hour game came to a turning point during the lord take as Indonesia secured the lord, at the cost of all their heroes. This left Sibol free to charge the base to take Game One, 17-8, giving Indonesia its first game loss in the tournament.

Indonesia started Game Two aggressively for an early game advantage, which they were able to sustain to take the first two lords of the game. Sibol defended the siege at the 16th minute but Indonesia once again secured the lord to close the game out, 10-18.

Sibok led early in Game Three but Indonesia managed to back them into a corner after taking the lord and securing a wipeout by 16:34. Sibol defended but lost their lead, forcing another crucial lord fight.

Indonesia once again took the lord, but Sibol responded by taking two of Indonesia's heroes, leaving them at a disadvantage as the Filipinos headed for the base and eventually won the game, 24-16, to position themselves at matchpoint.

Not wanting to back down, Indonesia once again opened the fourth game aggressively, drawing first blood against Gonzales, who answered back by scoring the first two turtles. The fight seemed to be another long one but an engagement by the lord saw an aggressive Sibol wiping out team Indonesia at the 10:30 mark en route to their second gold in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang -- their second overall in Hanoi.

Sibol still has four more events in which they could win medals: PUBG Mobile Team, League of Legends, Arena of Valor and CrossFire