Pride of Iloilo Acclaim Empire X wins the PGS Summer Split

MANILA, Philippines – History was made at Rampage 2016.

Acclaim Empire X (AEX), a relatively fresh team from Iloilo, took down veteran group Imperium Pro Team (IPT) in a Best of 5 series that determined the champions of the PGS Summer Split.

Most believed IPT would be able to defend their reign as the best League of Legends team in the country. But AEX, who just clawed their way to earn their spot at the finals, proved to be the superior team after all.

Their relentless aggression and confidence in their decisions led them to dethroning IPT, thus pulling off one of the greatest upsets in local eSports history. 

Game 1 – Start strong, end strong

Empire started strong and put the pedal to the metal right at the beginning of the series. After getting First Blood by killing IPT’s H4T3, the team slowly and surely built up their lead by securing the first drakes and taking down four turrets before the game even hit the 15 minute mark. Standing out in the early game is AEX’s Jungler, Tamsu, who made decisive ganks at IPT’s bottom lane with his Reksai to help his team gain the early lead.

Towards the middle of the game, AEX continued to surprise everyone by extending team fights where IPT seemed to be at the advantage. AEX turned the tables against IPT as soon as IPT tried to disengage. AEX played well around Jenvi’s Tristana, KarlCulated’s Ahri, and Kanon’s Morgana, the team’s triple threat damage dealers.

In the last few minutes of the game AEX made a bold dive into IPT’s base with KarlCulated’s Ahri running to the backline and helping his team take down four of IPT’s members, leading to the quick destruction of the nexus.

Game 2 – Cutting off the momentum

Things started pretty even for the two teams. AEX once again secured First Blood, but IPT answered immediately with a kill of their own. This led IPT to gain some control over the game early on. However, the gap between the two was not enough for IPT to capitalize on.

AEX hung at the backseat for quite a while after that. During the mid-game, IPT made some great picks during seemingly close fights. They built up a more significant lead through these clashes. However, AEX refused to give up and played as defensively as they can while waiting for the right moment to strike.

When IPT got stronger, AEX decided to move faster. AEX cut off IPT’s momentum before they can even snowball into winning the second game.

When IPT stormed AEX’s bottom lane, three of AEX’s members were at the Baron pit rushing to gain its buff in order to launch a counter. The three members then raced to the bottom lane and chased IPT away. AEX’s Jenvi proved to be a force to be reckoned with after an epic quadrakill which led to an Ace.

Unwilling to let the match drag on any further, AEX quickly made work of IPT’s bottom and top inhibitors while IPT tried to recover. Unable to defend their base any longer from the ruthlessness of AEX, IPT lost the game after a bloody team fight at their base.

Game 3 – Resist the cheese

AEX brought their cheese again for the third game of the series. Giving the audience a throwback to when they defeated Mineski, the team chose Nami for the midlane. AEX secured First Blood again and kept the aggression. IPT tried to match their aggression and came away with a few kills afterwards. 

What followed was a chaotic clash followed by another chaotic clash. Not even twenty minutes into the game and the body count reached sixteen with eight kills for AEX and eight kills for IPT. It was clear that both teams were fighting as if their lives depended on it.

IPT, knowing that this is a do or die game for them, was relentless in defending and taking objectives from AEX. The defining moment is IPT’s Light quickly chunking down AEX’s members leaving them to dust as AEX attempted to steal Baron from IPT.

This allowed IPT to snowball. And with the incredible damage coming from their conventional composition, AEX never stood a chance. IPT won Game 3 and won themselves another opportunity to prove that they truly are the best in the business.

 

Game 4 – The Long Con
The game started off a little slowly but this time IPT knew how to roam around the map without letting AEX’s aggression get to them.

Their well-timed ganks allowed them to secure First Blood and follow up with another kill on the top lane. And despite AEX grabbing the first drake, IPT was still able to press their early advantage.

Almost 20 minutes into the game however, AEX found their opening and evened out the game with three kills and destroying a turret in the mid lane.

Aggression was met with aggression after that and clashes, big and small, happened all across the map. IPT held on to their lead for as much as they can but AEX took comfort in their small victories after every team fight.

No team gained a clear advantage for most of the game as AEX and IPT went back and forth. Things only got more intense as time went on and before the match reached an hour, chaos ensued. AEX finally found their footing at the Baron pit after several team fights. And with that, they marched their way down IPT’s base to pull off the greatest upset in the entire split. 

Off to GPL

Acclaim Empire X will not only take home the lion’s share of the P260,000 prize pool but will also be sent to Vietnam where they will face other Southeast Asian champions for the Garena Pro League where the winner will move on to the Wildcard Tournament.

Their road to Worlds begins here. – Rappler.com