Mobile Esports Arena tourney takes spotlight at ESGS 2017

It was a great weekend for Philippine mobile esports players, as the first Mobile Esports Arena (MESA) Invitationals was successfully held at the annual Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS). Purported to be the largest mobile esports league in the country, the event took place at the SMX Convention Center on October 27-29.

Professional and amateur athletes for mobile games Hearthstone, Clash Royale, and Vainglory were invited by MESA Invitationals organizers BrenPro. These players were selected from the months-long MESA tournaments since April. An onsite wild card tournament determined the final lineup of competitors for each game.

Top seeded player Euniel “Staz” Javiñas bagged the MESA Invitationals Hearthstone championship, edging out Hearthstone pros Tyron "IAmTheTable" Candido of Soulfire and TNC's Cara "Caracute" Vergel de Dios to second and third place. Staz was previously lauded this year for being the first Filipino Hearthstone athlete to win at the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) 2016. He reportedly took home the biggest cash prize won by a single Filipino esports player.

MESA Invitationals Hearthstone top 3 (L-R): Tyron "IAmTheTable" Candido, Euniel “Staz” Javiñas, and Cara "Caracute" Vergel de Dios (MESA Invitationals, ESGS 2017, SMX Convention Center). All photos: Jo Brianne Briones

The MESA Invitationals was the first major tournament for Vainglory champions "MAJ Instagaming". Composed of players previously part of "Generals Alpha", the MAJ Instagaming team swept their old teammates in a tight but clear finals match. MAJ's Christian "iaaaan" Suarez attributed their debut win to “a wide hero pool and team coordination”. The newly formed "Bren Esports" team landed in third place.

MESA Invitationals Vainglory champions MAJ Instagaming (L-R): Jhon Christian “Great Karma” de Castro, Jason Dominic “JeyseN” Picaso, Vinca “Ecnivix” Garcia, Christian “iaaaan” Suarez. MAJ Instagaming won 50,000 PHP for winning the tournament (MESA Invitationals, ESGS 2017, SMX Convention Center).

The Clash Royale leg of MESA saw three high school youngsters conquering the top three places. Coming out at the top were student athletes Rammil “Dragon” Baso, John Kenneth “Trainer Ken” Pimentel, and Harold “Beltran03” Beltran, winning 30,000, 10,000, and 5,000 pesos as cash prizes respectively.

MESA Invitationals Clash Royale champion Rammil “Dragon” Baso (MESA Invitationals, ESGS 2017, SMX Convention Center).

The tight-knit mobile esports community is optimistic for the future of mobile gaming and esports, following the success of the tournament and the rising popularity of local athletes.

Akane Yoshizaki of Super Evil Megacorp, the developers of Vainglory, states that the game has grown a lot in Southeast Asia. In 2016, the number of Vainglory users tripled on Android, majority of which are from the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. She also states that Philippine gamers are competitive by nature, and like joining tournaments. This, she says, along with the prevalence of phones and tablets, has contributed to the rise of mobile gaming’s reputation in the region.

Several other esports tournaments also took place at ESGS, including the Brawlfest fighting game competition and a tournament for mobile MOBA game Heroes Evolved.

ESGS is one of the largest gaming conventions in the Philippines. Filipino game developers and international gaming companies exhibited their wares at the three-day event. Among the featured games open for demo were Marvel vs Capcom Infinite, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Gran Turismo: Sport, Monster Hunter: World, and local game Project Xandata. Call of Duty World War 2 also had their first Asia open tryouts at ESGS. — LA, GMA News