With the conclusion of the AcadArena Alliance Games S3, the Viridis Arcus (VA) Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) team ended their five-year reign as champions of the tournament. The team started strong during the semifinals stage, dominating the respawn maps and winning, 3-1, against the FEU’s TFX Atlas to advance to another Finals appearance. They faced off against the University of San Agustin’s (USA) SAGE Ultimate on Day Three of Conquest 2023 on the Esports Stage at SMX Convention Center, where the Green and White were eventually unable to add to their trophy cabinet, falling 3-2, last June 4.
Making up the five for Viridis Arcus were Marthur James “Mjay” Bayle, Markquis “Static” Lim, Jerico “YungJ” Vibora, Justine “Zayn” Reantaso, and Eulo “6ix9ine” De Chavez.
Setting up the championship
On the road to the Sunday grand finals, the DLSU Viridis Arcus CODM team geared up for a semifinals match with FEU’s TFX Atlas on Day Two of the Alliance Games S3. Yet to lose a Hardpoint and with the return of their bread-and-butter respawn modes, Viridis Arcus made a statement from the get-go. The first map, Summit Hardpoint, was marked by exceptional slaying alongside solid map control and rotations, which helped the Taft-based gamers win handily, 250-160. It was Mjay and Static who would showcase their talent in the opening map, popping off with 50 and 48 kills, respectively.
Loading into Raid for the Map Two Search and Destroy, FTX’s cAsh and yfx made it difficult for the reigning champions with their crucial picks and multikills, which helped put VA at a 4-0 disadvantage in the map and mode. Despite this, it was YungJ’s scope that glistened for the La Salle side as he continued to find first blood with his sniper rifle to help the team secure two consecutive rounds, 4-2. The game then went back and forth between both teams, but the comeback was not in VA’s favor. They ultimately fell, 7-4, even with YungJ’s 12 kills that led the lobby. Unfazed by an unfavorable Search and Destroy, the Control map and mode on Takeoff was a breeze for the gunslingers from Taft. The VA side won the map in a quick 3-0 fashion thanks to their spawn control and zone capture tactics, which put them in the driver’s seat for the match leading, 2-1.
With one map win away, VA fired off in the Map Four Standoff Hardpoint. The team found their kills and rotated early to chain the first two hills, putting them in the lead by 50 points by P3. FTX attempted to do the same for P3 and P4 of the first set of hill rotations, but Static and Mjay were untradeable. The La Salle side proved their dominance as they repeatedly broke FEU hill setups going up, 139-47, by the time the second P1 rotation came around. The Morayta-based team tried to hold on and comeback from their deficit, but DLSU outplayed them and ended the game by the third rotation to P1, 250-160. This gave VA the semifinals series win, and advanced them to the finals on Day Three.
All good things must come to an end
After reverse-sweeping their semifinals match, USA’s SAGE Ultimate found their way into the finals against the reigning champions of the Alliance Games. VA let their opening map set the tone for their sixth Finals appearance, where they returned to Summit and won, 250-166. The trademark VA gunskill stood out yet again with Static leading the lobby in kills with a 40-piece at the end of Map One. It was a similar winning outcome for DLSU, but SAGE put up a fight early in the map, putting pressure on last season’s champions with their teamwork and rotations. Fortunately, La Salle’s strong Hardpoint showing was able to put them ahead, 1-0, in the series map count.
The Search and Destroy woes continued for DLSU as they struggled to win rounds in the Firing Range Map Two. They lost the map and won two rounds with credit to Zayn and YungJ’s crucial frags, 7-2. With this loss, the teams were now tied in the championship series, 1-all.
The Control game mode was set to be played on Raid, where VA looked comfortable from the opening setup. The Green and White took the first two rounds of the map, cutting down SAGE’s life count and outslaying them on both offensive and defensive sides. Come Round Three however, VA was unable to fend off the Iloilo-based team’s attack and conceded one round on defense, 2-1. Eager to move on to the next Hardpoint map, La Salle was able to capture the B zone quickly. Controlling the map, VA successfully spawn-trapped the SAGE challengers and won, 3-1, to lead the series, 2-1.
Viridis Arcus was only one map win away from lifting their sixth championship trophy, but were subsequently shocked when the challengers from Iloilo were able to steal the Map Four Standoff Hardpoint and tip the scales, 250-166. SAGE Ultimate made sure to get every rotation and hold every setup, leading VA by the end of the first P3 hill, 105-36. DLSU struggled to hold the Hardpoint and maintain their setups, which allowed USA to chain hills and gain marginal time in the hill, tying the series at two wins apiece. With their best efforts, VA’s 6ix9ine notched 33 kills alongside Mjay’s 36 in the loss.
It was a heart-racing Map Five Search and Destroy for the two sides, where the winner of the map would be crowned champion of the Alliance Games S3. VA’s B site strategy was hard countered by the SAGE side early on, only netting them a single round win in six rounds played. Committing to A site, DLSU found success with their post-plant setup and also defended the USA succeeding attack to win consecutive rounds of the do-or-die map, 5-3. However, the five-peat champions lost their momentum and were unable to mount a comeback in the final round, 7-4, yielding to Iloilo’s USA SAGE Ultimate in a finals series loss, 3-2.
“They improved a lot from last season,” said Static as he commended USA’s victory.
Concluding his final playing year alongside YungJ, Static shared that the future is still bright for the CODM team, “Expect a lot of lineup changes, but at the same time we already have some prospects that are very interesting and we see great potential in them.”
