Caviar Napoleon Acampado of Sibol, the Philippine national esports team, is assured of a silver medal in the StarCraft II discipline of the 30th Southeast Asian Games esports competition.
Acampado, popularly known as "EnDerr"," took a thrilling 3-2 series win over Vietnam's Hong Phuc Tran in the upper bracket finals at the the San Juan Arena on Friday.
Both Acampado and Tran, considered rivals in the region, topped their respective groups in the group stage with undefeated records. Tran had the upperhand when they met last month at the Southeast Asian Qualifiers of the World Electronic Sports Games 2019.
The first meeting of the two players at SEA Games saw Acampado getting the victory after stopping the Nydus Worm - Queen combo from Tran. The Vietnamese returned the favor with a Roach army of his own in the second game.
They traded wins in the succeeding games. Acampado showcased his micromanagement in the third game and Tran answered back with an early Metabolic Boosted Zergling army.
With the series on the line, Tran went with a Roach army in the final game while Acampado built a Speedling army of his own. Both players decided to beeline for each other's base which, in the end, favored the faster army of Acampado. The Filipino veteran grabbed the victory to secure his place in the grand finals.
"When he was going to attack, I started thinking whether I should engage his army or not. It was a gamble but I thought the mobility was on my side so I decided to go for a base race," said Acampado on his decision to avoid the clash and go for the base.
"I'll review my games and rest up for the grand finals."
Acampado is set to face Singapore's Kopankiewicz in the grand finals on December 10. The Singaporean closed out the Lower Bracket Finals in four games against Tran.
Fellow Sibol StarCraft II teammate, Derick Justin Santos wasn't too lucky though as he was swept by Singaporean Thomas Kopankiewicz in the lower bracket.
Sibol Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, meanwhile, is assured of a bronze medal after sweeping Vietnam in the lower bracket semis.
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang squad started strong in the first game applying pressure throughout the map. They took the lead and pushed to the victory.
The second game was far from perfect. Vietnam found some success in their draft and was able to keep Sibol at bay. It was Karl Nepomuceno, better known as "KarlTzy", that found pick after pick on the Esmeralda. Despite Vietnam's best efforts to snowball their lead, Sibol found even the smallest mistakes and capitalized. The Sibol - MLBB team eventually closed out the game and the series to secure a spot in the lower bracket finals and at least a bronze medal.
"Our mentality to the game is that you shouldn't be scared of the opponent even if you're playing with a deficit. Once you become scared, you'll carry this throughout the game and give your opponents a chance to further beat you down," answered Allan Castromayor, the tank player of Sibol-MLBB.
"I think we can win the gold medal. We'll prove to everyone that the Philippines is the strongest in Mobile Legends," assured Castromayor.
The 30th SEA Games marks a new milestone for esports. It is the first time esports is included as a medal sport.