Exosen’s Team Alamat spoils VeeWise’s League Classic return

MANILA, Philippines – Familiarity and experience reigned supreme as Team Alamat prevailed with a 2-1 win against Team Pamana at the Klasik Rivals showmatch for League Classic last Saturday, August 8.

Facing off at the earlier version of the Summoner’s Rift, it was a series filled with competitiveness and nostalgia as the two teams went head-to-head with their memories and mastery of the old-school League Classic.

Alongside Exosen in Team Alamat were Rumble Royale CEO and his wife Suzzane Ezra Irasga-Gubatan, content creators Jillian ‘Jillipuff’ Santos, Kitz Cua, and Kapitan Pugo.

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Representing Team Pamana were VeeWise duo Johnmar ‘OhMyV33nus’ Villaluna and Danerie James ‘Wise’ del Rosario; Raemon ‘Razzie Binx’ Bingcang; voice actress and esports icon Rikki ‘Riku’ Quiapon; and Team Secret’s Leomiho.

It was a back-and-forth first game, with both teams’ junglers stacking takedowns throughout the map. Despite Wise’ miraculous steal of the Baron, Exosen’s Jax proved to be too much for Team Pamana to deal with, leading to Team Alamat’s win. In game 2, Wise’s Evelynn heavily dominated, going as far as 15-0 in 15 minutes to snowball the game and tie the series.

With Game 3 going very close, Jillipuff’s strong showing throughout all three games made the difference for Team Alamat in capturing the Nexus and emerge as the showmatch champions.

After the series, Tech INQ sat down with the players from both teams to share their stories of playing League Classic.

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Reliving the classics

Just like almost everybody else, they explored the Summoner’s Rift in a place that elicited a lot of memories: computer shops.

“I started playing League of Legends back in Season 3. Since then, I then became a regular customer in computer shops. The highest rank I achieved was Challenger top 6 or 7. Even though I lived in Antipolo, I even play in faraway places like Cavite just to attend weekly tournaments.” OhMyV33nus recalled.

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Similarly, Riku, who also started playing League without a personal computer, even went extra lengths just to enjoy the game.

“I even used to commute for an hour just to play at this specific shop with my friends. It’s a different feeling when you play League as you sit in a shop with friends.”

From those carefree moments, it grew into a deliberate way of life outside the game. It started etching names that would later inspire other gamers.

For Wise, who once played as a pro, it was North American midlane legend Søren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg that inspired him.

“I used to play mid. That’s why before I used Wise as my in-game name, it was Djergsen. It was inspired by a pro player in North America named Bjergsen. That’s why I called myself Djergsen back then,” Wise said.

While for Leomiho, it was streamer Tyler ‘Tyler1’ Steinkamp who became his role model as a content creator.

“He inspired me in building my character as a streamer. His shouting and energetic persona. Meeting Tyler1 felt so surreal because he was the one to ask me first with shooting content with him. It was so cool for me.”

For over 15 years, the game changed constantly, and the way it is played shifted drastically. But one thing remained the same: League of Legends kept proving it is more than just a game.

It was a community.

“The most memorable League moment for me that made me feel League is a community? 2023. We did a Worlds Finals watch party event in Quezon City. It was featured on the news too. That event showed the passion and the amount of people that made up the PH League community as a whole,” seasoned esports host Justin ‘Vill’ Villaseran remarked.

“For me, it greatly showed how community-centric League of Legends was.”

With new players discovering League and past players coming back to play League Classic, Vill expressed his greatest hope for the PH LoL community.

“Faker, if ever you are seeing this, please come to the Philippines. We got you. The Philippines will love you.”

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