MANILA, PHILIPPINES– The adobo Esports Mobile Legends Mythical Bowl has put agencies neck-to-neck against each other in tight competition over the past few weeks. With the Grand Finals just wrapped up, we get to know the teams, how they started playing Mobile Legends and their office culture.
Ace Saatchi & Saatchi’s Starlighters
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“Ganyan yung logo namin kasi Starlight Member kami. Luhh. Yaman ka ghorl? Siyempre dapat may star kasi nga Starlighters. Tapos lagyan natin ng wings para lakas maka-Cardcaptor Sakura.”
(The Starlight program is Mobile Legends’ exclusive membership system. A one-month subscription to the Starlight program costs between 550 – 770 in-game Diamonds. 1,000 Diamonds can set you back a cool P999.)
Which team member is the biggest Mobile Legends fan?
“Biggest fan sa team namin siguro si Rabbinus [Venus Rabbi Nadate]. Hinde ka naman gagawa ng stream/fan-page para sa ML kung hinde ka fan ng laro.”
(It’s probably Rabbinus [Venus Rabbi Nadate]. You wouldn’t make a streaming page if you’re not a fan.)
Got a fun fact about the Starlighters?
“The first multiplayer game I played was called NetWars, a multiplayer game back in the 90s. Naglalaro kami ng mga kaklase ko sa computer lab na DOS pa yung OS, (I would play together with my classmates in a computer lab that had a Disk Operating System)” said Eric Dimson de la Cruz, aka Dimpogi.
“I don’t play Mobile Legends talaga before… but, yung boyfriend ko kasi sa dates namin, lagi phone hawak and ML ng ML. Ayun nainis ako, naglaro din ako para quits lang kami. Tapos ayun, mas magaling na ako sa kanya ngayon 🤪. Pa-like pala ng Facebook page,
(I didn’t play Mobile Legends before but my boyfriend could not keep off of it on our dates. In my frustration, I also started playing and now I’m better than him. Please also like my Facebook page)” shared Rabbinus.
“Nung college madalas kami maglaro halos 24 hours sa shop kaka grind kasi clan master ako ng isang clan sa Priston Tale, (When I was in college, we would play for almost 24 hours because I was the clan master of this clan in Priston Tale)” said Neilbert Malinao, aka TresRelax.
“Emily Sagun is my mentor,” said Jason Villaroman, aka Vman.
BBDO Guerrero’s Legends
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“The name and logo embodies that rock and roll spirit of BBDO. With the electrifying energy to take on whatever’s thrown at us, we’re always ready to conquer. That’s what legends are made of.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“It’s a breather and a form of escape for all of us—we used to play during lunch breaks at the office pantry before the pandemic. You feel closer to different people across departments. We seem to be an unlikely mix (accounts, art directors, editors, messengers, etc.) but we all play with one goal.”
Which team member is the biggest Mobile Legends fan?
“Cedie [Ebarle], aka ‘Lodi Atlas’ aka Fudgeebur, is the biggest ML fan. He’s really the brain of our team. As a team leader, he does his job well. He tells us where we’re lacking, what items we can use, and sends YT videos of heroes we plan to use etc. Best player? EVERYONE. We all try our best to learn and improve.
Got a fun fact about the Legends?
“We all excel in staying up late to play, despite working with tight deadlines!”
“Gwen [Gui], aka Gwency, is nice at work but her inner trash-talker comes out during plays.”
“Jaypee [Dulu], aka DewDulu, can’t wake up for an 8 AM meeting, but he can if it’s for ML.”
GIGIL’s mGGling
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“Batang gigil na gigil lumaban is the inspiration for the logo. The character bears a gigil facial expression to show off how we’re raring to play. What he holds in his hands aren’t baby rattles, but actually gaming joysticks. The colors reflect our agency’s signature and striking magenta, with the typography that’s reminiscent of 8-bit imagery. The gold accent colors allude to coins and the winnings we get whenever we push as a team.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“Nagsimula kami maglaro ng ML when we needed to present ideas for it for a client. (We started playing when we needed it to present ideas for a client) And then we couldn’t stop anymore until it became a nice outlet for brain breaks.”
How often do members practice for the tournament, or play Mobile Legends just for fun?
“Syempre sinisingit sa mga clearing, briefing, and other deliverables. (We try to play in between clearing, briefing and other deliverables) It’s a nice way to reset our minds during the day. But we also made it a point to come and play together after every work day just to get that rapport going.”
Got a fun fact about mGGling?
“Kaya naming maglaro habang nagpapa-clear. Huwag tutularan!”
(We can play at the same time as we’re getting clearance. That’s a practice you don’t want to follow!)
McCann Worldgroup Philippines’ McCann Mythics
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“We kept it simple with the logo and patterned it after McCann Worldgroup’s logo — which is all typeface as well.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“WFH has us all working in silos—there’s minimal communication between people who you don’t work with or are not close to. Because of Mobile Legends and the Adobo Esports League, the members of the team got to connect with people who they have not seen or talked too for the past 5 months.”
Which team member is the biggest Mobile Legends fan?
“Based on the number of games in a single account, the biggest ML fan would be Rin Estrella, aka Titania. Based on the number of skins (and possibly the most number of purchases), it would be Earl Javier, aka javerl. Based on the number of videos watched about ML (about strategy, team compositions, tutorials, etc.), it would be Reggie Taganahan, aka AngasFace.”
Which team member is the best Mobile Legends player?
“The best player in the team, no doubt is Jayson Dumanais, aka KoroSensei.”
Ogilvy’s Ogilvy and Mass Testing
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“The inspiration of the logo came from the Modern Art movement of the 20th Century, combining the distinct styles of Duchamp and Kandinsky, with hints of we don’t really know—we were so busy we kinda rushed it we just really wanted to play. The logo is actually an ‘O’ and ‘M’ combined–stands for Ogilvy and Mather.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“Mobile Legends became an afterwork habit by some of the players in this team. It was automatic – Friday night, 8pm, early out or OT, we managed to squeeze in a couple of games as a way to unload all of the frustrations we faced during the week.
“During the pandemic, stress about work and life reached an all-time high. Each ‘SHUT DOWN,’ ‘SAVAGE,’ or ‘EPIC COMEBACK’ served as a resounding ‘HELL YEAH’ to life despite the chaos outside. (Special shout out to the supporters of Ogilvy and Mass Testing. Only a handful in the office knew the game, and yet all of them stuck by until late at night just to watch us play and flood the comments section with wohoos and yeheys.)”
How were team members recruited?
“Like true creative people, nothing was ever planned (lol). Because we were a small bunch to begin with, we just rallied together and created a group to establish that team connection.”
Got a fun fact about Ogilvy and Mass Testing?
“At least one member of Ogilvy Mass & Testing only started playing this year. Can you guess?”
Propel Manila’s Team Propel
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“The Propel Manila Logo is inspired by an actual propeller, moving ideas that matter. So when we designed the ML team logo it seemed natural to use a shuriken to be like a fighting version of a propeller. Team Propel’s logo is a simple single element. A spinning ninja star ready to do fast damage.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“Mobile Legends has always been an outlet for play and camaraderie for the team—complete with tawanan, gaguhan and lots and lots of trash-talk in the office. During the pandemic, it has served as a nice way for the teammates to be able to keep in touch and still keep a sense of normalcy.”
How were team members recruited?
“When the announcement of the tournament came we were “Volunteered” by everybody in the company.”
How often do members practice for the tournament, or play Mobile Legends just for fun?
“Gabi-gabi. Galit na mga asawat significant others namin.”
(Every single night, to the point that our partners would get mad at us)
Which team member is the biggest Mobile Legends fan?
“Hayami [Kudo], aka .S.O.U.L_E.A.T.E.RS.O.U.L_E.A.T.E.R., is the biggest fan. Collecting skins is his obsession.”
Which team member is the best Mobile Legends player?
“Third [Lorenzo], aka Three, is the most hardcore player in Team Propel. He is a black belt in nerding about the game’s strategy.”
Got a fun fact about Team Propel?
“We are actually very nasty trash talkers, but we play nice. For now.”
Publicis JimenezBasic’s PJBangBang
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“The inspiration of our logo is our PJB’s logo itself; a roaring lion, but we made it quirkier and fun that reflects our personality as a creative. The logo is PJB’s lion in a magnificent roar towards victory.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“Before the pandemic, we largely treated Mobile Legends as our sanity break from all the brainstorming, meeting, presentations every day. It also opens us to having quick 20-minutes of bonding with colleagues or even bosses during office breaks.”
How often do members practice for the tournament, or play Mobile Legends just for fun?
“Actually, we started practicing a week before the cup, because we have a lot of work to be done and we can’t squeeze a similar schedule to practice together. But we make sure to practice separately when we have time EOD. 🙂”
Got a fun fact about PJBangBang?
“We don’t usually play ML a lot in the office, but when adobo Esports asked us to form a team, we decided to play again!”
VLMY&R’s EZLYF
What was the inspiration behind the team’s logo? Briefly describe your logo.
“The inspiration for the logo was a random thought about what an agency trophy would look like if we won a gaming tournament. The idea for the design comes from the gems or diamonds that players get in most of the games today. Gems and diamonds are items or resources that are very hard to find, but the rewards you reap claiming that object or using it, is worth the time you invested locating it.”
“The gem formation of the letters “EZ” is intentional to connect it to our agency logo. It also conveys the team’s spirit and determination to win at any given tournament. Spaces created by the letters inside the gem shape reveal a running man, while dabbing, signifying the never-ending thirst for knowledge. EZ LYF comes from the idea that you can still be competitive while having fun.”
How has Mobile Legends affected life at the office and work culture before and during the pandemic?
“Understanding and playing games like Mobile Legends helped us understand the gaming industry, what esports is all about, and the potential of this unthreaded area for digital marketing. It also inspired us to create innovative ideas for campaigns, especially during this time of pandemic.”
Got a fun fact about EZLYF?
“We have a team member that’s currently ranked as ‘Master’ (one of the lowest in-game ranks), but plays like a ‘Mythic’ ranked player.”
The adobo Esports Season 1: Mobile Legends Mythical Bowl inter-agency tournament is co-presented by Globe, supported by E-Porject, and powered by ASUS ROG Phone 3, Mountain Dew, and Jack n Jill Piattos.
The emerging winner will represent the country at the Singtel’s PVP Esports Corporate Championship in Singapore and receive P60,000. Runner-ups will also take home cash prizes starting from P30,000 for
2nd place, P12,000 for 3rd and 4th places, P10,000 for 5th and 6th places and P8,000 for 7th and 8th places. Special awards such as the Globe MVP Award, the Best Team Poster Award, and the Best in Team Spirit Award will be given out during the separate Awards Night on September 3.
Catch the live games, team standings, and replays on the adobo Esports channel. @adoboesports
