The year 2023 will be remembered as one of the most successful periods for Philippine esports in the competitive scene. And no, it isn’t limited to just the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang competitive scene.
The Philippines went full throttle and secured multiple medals in various esports disciplines across numerous international tournaments.
Rise of E-Gilas
E-Gilas, the Philippines’ NBA 2k national team, made their mark on the global stage with a fourth-place finish in the eFIBA World Finals in Sweden last November.
Prior to their appearance on the world stage, the E-Gilas squad first swept their foes in the eFIBA Season 2 Asian Championship elimination round, including a colossal 221-52 victory over India.
Just a few weeks after the Philippines took the men’s basketball gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, E-Gilas also became the kings of the region with their eFIBA Season 2 Asian Championship conquest.
SEA Games Supremacy
The Philippines also made a breakthrough in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games, becoming the country with the most medals won at six in the biennial event during this year’s staging.
One may argue that only gold medals matter, but the Philippines’ bronze medal in PUBG Mobile (Individual) felt like gold, marking the first time the country won a medal of any color in such an esports discipline.
The MLBB Women’s silver had the same effect, as the field was expected to be dominated by the more experienced Indonesians, who had won all prior international women’s tournaments in the past. Still, the Filipinas managed to keep the gold-medal match close, even leading 2-1 before their rivals swept the final two games.
The Philippines also had a gold medal performance in LOL Wildrift, a tremendous improvement after a winless campaign in the previous staging of the regional meet.
In all, the country’s performance at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games further typified the excellence exhibited by Filipino esports athletes across various disciplines.
IESF Overall World Champions
(c) SIBOL
Perhaps one of the utmost embodiments of the success of Filipino athletes in the international arena was the IESF World Esports Championship, where the Philippines was hailed as the tournament’s overall champion, courtesy of a gold and a silver medal finish in MLBB and Tekken 7, respectively.
Two out of the four teams sent by Sibol to the global spectacle podiumed, making the Philippines the top-performing country out of 111 participating countries.
Achieving such recognition on one of the grandest esports stages further strengthens the Philippines’ claim as one of the best, if not the best, countries in terms of professional esports competition.
Undisputed MLBB World Champions
Echo opened the year by winning the M4 World Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia, last January, marking the third straight time that the country took home the grandest title in the MLBB professional scene.
Sibol ML, bannered by AP.Bren, followed suit in May by retaining the country’s gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games MLBB event.
Wearing the Philippine flag on their back, Sibol ML continued to dominate other international tournaments, including flawless campaigns at the IESF Southeast Asian Qualifiers and the Asia + Oceania qualifiers before coming full circle with the IESF world championship title in Romania.
The Philippines continued to dominate international MLBB events from there, as RSG Philippines took the MPL Invitation crown in Indonesia before AP.Bren bagged the M5 World Championship trophy on home soil this December, making them the first undisputed MLBB world champion.
With the success that the Philippines has gained over the past year, we can definitely claim that “Pinas lang malakas.”
