#Bring8Home: Vagabonds teams score 1-2 finish at 2022 GIBR
by Paolo Barcelon
Manila, Philippines (June 26, 2022) – Call them the undisputed kings of the Call of Duty Battle Royale in the Philippines and in all of Garena.
Philippine esports organization Vagabonds Esports wins the Garena Invitational Battle Royale (GIBR) 2022, winning with a commanding lead of 328 total kill and placing points on the second day of the 24-team tournament.
Blue, Yato, Kevsup, Lukie and Nash prevailed over 24 other squads to cruise through the tournament’s first-person perspective or FPP mode, the mode used for the second day of the tournament.
The boys in black and white won five out of 8 rounds in Day 2. As early as the second round, Vagabonds Esports cruised through the lead from Almghty (AMT) Prime, and held onto it for the rest of the game.
Round 7 and 8 of the FPP rounds in Blackout brought the best and worst in the storied team’s play throughout Day 2 of the GIBR, as the team scored a beastly performance in Round 7 with 33 kills, followed by an early elimination in the final round. However, the latter did not matter as the team was already way ahead in the leaderboards.
It was a different story though for Esserr, Ryujin, Vrus, Travis, and Swish – who rose from seventh seed in Day 1 to become the GIBR 2022 runner-up.
From no wins in Day 1 during the third-person perspective (TPP) competition, Vagabonds Nomads won Rounds 3, 5 and 8 of the Day 2 FPP melee.
“We are very happy with our results. We came from the 7th place on the 1st day, and we tried our best to secure at least a top 3 finish by the end of day 2. We managed to cinch the second spot, which is an achievement for the team as well as the organization,” said key Nomads player Vrus in a statament sent to this reporter.
The Nomads also responded to comparisons between their performance in the GIBR and the Garena Survivors. “We do not respond to any hate comments towards us. Many may say that “nawala” yung laro ng Nomads (Many may say that the Nomads lost its play during the Garena Survivors), but it’s just their own perspective and we respect it. If anything, it only allows us to strive and grind so that their perspective will change,” said Nomads player Ryujin.
Meanwhie, AMT Prime completed the podium for a successful third-place finish and putting this key team to greater heights in the BR scene. AMT’s Chase, Chibi, Dreii, Quazy and Wen combined for a total of 234 kill and placing points.
Meanwhile, Veni Vidi Vici (VVV Esports) teams round out the 4th and 5th slot, with VVV Vidi scoring 213 points and Vici scoring 200 points.
Crowd favorite 4 Kings (4K) esports – composed of Geh, TomPeepz, Alatskie, Tokyo, and Fright, scored 197 total points to solidify their hold on the #6 post.
The newly formed Riley Esports main team was ranked seventh, while EZ Reborn Esports (EZR) Magna finished at 8th place.
Rounding out the top 10 are Thailand’s MB3 at #9, and Hilas Esports (HE) Phoenix at #10.
The 2022 GIBR tournament also marks a 16-round sweep for Filipino teams, proving that the Philippines is a dominant player in the international Battle Royale scene for Garena Call of Duty Mobile.
The champions received US$5,000 in prize money, with the second placer gearing US$2,500.
Filipino Battle Royale squads thrash competition in GIBR Playoffs, AMT Prime takes Day 1 lead
by Paolo Barcelon
Manila, Philippines (June 25, 2022) – Filipino squads in Garena Call of Duty Mobile sweep all eight rounds of the Garena Invitational Battle Royale (GIBR) 2022, making a strong impact in the opening stages of the 24-team tournament.
Almghty (AMT) Prime surprised everyone’s expectations by taking home the lead after 8 gruelling rounds of third-person perspective (TPP) competition, with 167 combined kill and placement points.
AMT’s Chase, Chibi, Dreii, Quazy and Wen won three total rounds during the melee – 2 of them against wildcards EZ Reborn (EZR) Magna.
It was during the 7th round – their final win for the day – when Prime stepped up to the plate and put on a spot-on performance: 25 total kills and 15 placing points to propel them past now- second-seed Vagabonds Esports (VBE).
When the squad was asked about their strategy in taking a commanding lead, Dreii said, “All of the teams are challenging to combat, so we simply reviewed our positioning and swiftly backed up our teammates.”
“We know that everyone in this tournament is a good player, so as we win in each round, our team’s desire as a warrior grows stronger, but the determination is still firm and we are growing more hungry for victory. In this way, everyone maintains their composure and keeps their attention on not losing their focus,” Wen told this reporter.
Chase is Day 1’s overall kill leader with 46 total kills – one of two Prime players in the list, alongside Chibi, with 25 frags.
AMT was among the four Filipino teams who secured round wins during the tournament. Vagabonds Esports is currently in second place, with 141 total points.
The 7-time champions found themselves off to a shaky start, but the team of Blue, Yato, Kevsup, Lukie and Nash slowly got their rhythm and scored 77 kills and 64 placing points.
VB Esports came into the tournament after winning season 2 of the Maharajas BR cup.
Blue led the VB Esports’ team in the kill leaderboards with 27 kills – 10 less than Vrus of their brother team, Vagabonds Nomads, who is second-overall kill leader at 37 kills.
Meanwhile, Veni Vidi Vici (VVV Esports) Vidi is at third place with 130 total points. JuL, MrKeyser, Seorak, Shinichi and White exhibited brilliant teamwork and kill-point play to propel them from other brands and their brother teams, Vici and Veni.
On fourth place is the newly-formed Riley Esports Main Team, led by BR stalwart Neroza. He, Caleb, Watss, Yang and Rald combined for 124 points.
Meanwhile, crowd favorite 4 Kings (4K) Esports – composed of Geh, TomPeepz, Alatskie, Tokyo, and Fright, scored 116 total points.
VVV Vici is at 6th rank, while the Vagabonds Nomads and EZR Magna are in 7th and 8th place. MB3 from Thailand is currently at 9th place, while Malaysia-Singapore representatives ABCxMYSTIC round out the top 10.
When asked about the country leading the GIBR – with their team at the helm, Chase of AMT Prime said, “We’re truly honored to represent the Philippine flag – especially to be the victorious team on the 1st day of the (GiBR) Tournament. Another thing that I want to say is that we’re grateful to everyone who supports the team from the beginning till now. We ensure everyone that AMT Prime will strive for more entertaining battles and brotherhood so that we can build a healthy community where everyone wants to unite and communicate.”
Day 2 of the GIBR 2022 starts at 1pm, GMT+8.
PH BR squads dominate GIBR 2022 Wildcards
by Paolo Barcelon
Manila, Philippines (June 20, 2022) – Filipino squads in Garena Call of Duty Mobile fill five out of six wild card slots in a bid to establish the country’s dominance in the Asian Battle Royale scene.
Among the Pinoy squads who qualified to the Garena Invitational Battle Royale (GIBR) playoffs are Riley Esports, the second-seeded EZ Reborn Esports (EZR) Magna, third- seed Armament Rodzina (ARMA) Esports, Hilas Esports (HE) Phoenix, and fifth-seed Royal Kings.
Alibaba Clan Mystic (ABCxMYSTIC) rounds out the six-squad wildcard qualifiers, the only team from the Malaysia-Singapore region to do so.
The newly formed main team of the red-and-gold brand of Riley scored a total of 309 combined kill and placing points over two days of intense battle royale competition.
On the second day of the tourney, Riley continued cruising past its opponents by holding on to its a kill-focused strategy during the 8-round first-person-perspective (FPP) fragfest.
Riley’s team captain Neroza shared in a post-game interview that the team only had less a week to practice for the GIBR and to perfect their winning strategy.
He said, “I think because of previous experience and playstyle nila, so nung nasa (Vagabonds) Drifters pa sila (Caleb & Yang), they tend to always push and be aggressive. So yun po talaga yung playstyle nila. For the GIBR wildcards, naging 2-2 po yung scenario, and salitan naman sa comms, but the playstyle and aggressiveness, na- absorb po namin from the Drifters. So sila Watss and Rald, nag-adapt na din sa playstyle.”
[TRANSLATION: I think it’s becauuse of when Caleb and Yang were still with the Vagabonds Drifters, they tend to push always and be aggressive. That’s their playstyle. For the GIBR wildcards, the scenario became 2-to-2, and players were shifting through their comms – but the aggressive play style, we absorbed from the Drifters. Watss and Rald also adapted to it.]
Three out of Riley’s 5-man team also made into the wildcards’ final kill leaderboards: Watss with 54 kills, Yang with 47 markers, and Caleb with 42 frags.
Shard, Dastin, Jager, Nixsxx and Sphinx of EZR Magna also continued holding on to their second-place spot by also relying on a kill-first strategy. Shard, who led the former Laetus squad to a victorious wild card run, scored 55 total kills during the two-day melee.
Meanwhile ARMA successfully battled through shifting leaderboards by dethroning Existence Esports (EXST) Valhalla, also through a successful kill-first strategy. Jhayz, who also acts as ARMA’s clan master, is the GIBR Wildcards’ official kill leader with 74 eliminations over the course of the two-day wildcard stage.
Hilas Esports Phoenix also held out tough competition to maintain its fourth-seed slot at 205 total points, while Royal Kings fought valiantly to punch their way into the playoffs, sending ABCxMYSTIC to the final slot for the said event.
Meanwhile, teams who did not qualify for the GIBR will receive a consolation reward of 50 USD.
The 2022 GIBR playoffs is set for June 25 and 26, at 1pm GMT+8. These six teams will join the 18 leading teams from various qualifiers to determine who gets to become the champion of the event.
Riley Esports’ new “super team” dominates in 2022 GIBR Wildcards day 1
by Paolo Barcelon
Manila, Philippines (June 18, 2022) – Barely a week since its formation, the newly-formed Riley Esports main team seeks to bring their brand to a bigger stage as it clearly dominates its opposition on the first day of the Wild Card phase of the Garena Invitational Battle Royale (GIBR) for Call of Duty: Mobile players in Asia.
Caleb, Rald, Watss, Yang and team captain Neroza represented the red and gold brand of Riley Esports, scoring a total of 169 combined kill and placing points.
For the most part of the 8-round third-person-perspective (TPP) melee, Riley held on to its lead thanks in part to a kill-focused strategy, with placing points seen as an addendum to their already storied gameplay styles.
Riley won Round 6 thanks to a clutch assault rifle kill in a 1-versus-2 situation from Neroza, but it was Watss and company who stepped up even further in the final round to keep the pressure on opposing squads.
Three out of Riley’s 5-man team also made into the kill leaderboards for day 1: Watss with a whopping 32 kills, Yang with 22, and Caleb with 20 frags.
Meanwhile, EZ Reborn Magna or EZR Magna scored a close second after waking up from a disappointing performance in the Isolated map part of the game. EZR’s Shard rallied the team to a Round 5 win by scoring 9 frags in the round to propel the team to its momentum as the map shifted from Isolated to Blackout.
Shard would eventually go on to become EZR’s top fragger in the tournament, contributing 27 out of the team’s 68 kill markers.
Meanwhile, third-placer Existence (EXST) Valhalla relied big time on placement points, which made 55 out of their 107 total points. Valhalla soldiers Coco, Kingry, KKPG and Debwu also added 52 kills to their tally.
Rounding out the top six so far are fourth seed Hilas Esports Phoenix with 105 points, ABCxMYSTIC from the Malaysia-Singapore (MYSG) region at fifth seed with 104 points, and Armament Rodzina with 96 points – 40 of them coming from the Day 1 kill leader and the team’s clan master, Jhayz.
Day 2 of the GIBR is set for Sunday, June 19, at 1pm GMT+8. The top six winners of the wildcards are expected to advance to the GIBR playoffs happening from June 25 to 26.
READ MORE: PH BR squads dominate GIBR 2022 Wildcards