By Ken Bennedict T. Pueyo BAELS-4

The Rose Memorial Auditorium was the venue of the Esports.

Golden Lions Esports and CPU Republic hosted a collegiate esports tournament titled “DUEL IN THE DEN: CONQUERORS” for Centralian Fest 2023. With 68 teams altogether from different departments battled their hearts out to conquer the den and claim the title of champion in their respective games.

The 68 teams initially faced off against each other at the elimination stages which started on March 25 and eventually narrowed it down to 8 teams where 2 teams from each game compete in the finals held from April 12-13 at Rose Memorial Auditorium. While there were delays due to technical issues, for the most part, the event was successful and the whole venue felt like it was an actual esports tournament. Aside from watching and supporting the players in the auditorium, there were also merchandise stores available on the side where everyone can buy posters and stickers drawn by DMIA students from the university.

After insane and hype matches, the College of Business and Accountancy’s Phoenix A won Wild Rift, College of Engineering’s Titans A dominated Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Junior High School’s Jaguars A swept Call of Duty Mobile. However, the main game that everyone was waiting for was Valorant wherein the College of Computer Studies’ “Warriors A” triumphed over Senior High School’s team. The whole two-day event amassed around 3,000 viewers and one can feel everyone’s passion for esports and the teams they are rooting for.

“Back then, I would only work with a handful of talented people. And we would all be taking double, sometimes even triple responsibilities just so we could have a functional system. These days, I can’t even count on my fingers the number of people I work with in Golden Lions Esports. A high school pipe dream turned into reality. That is how I could describe Duel in the Den,” Christian Lexis Tan, the managing director of Golden Lions Esports on his thoughts about the overall event.