26/08/2026
๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง ๐ข๐ก ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ
๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ง๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ผ ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ถ๐๐น๐ฒ
After nearly missing the tournament due to a last-minute sponsorship setback, WarThunder, composed of Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) Titans Esports (MTE) players, instead left Duaw Davao as champions after an undefeated run in the Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) esports tournament at the Annex Event Center, SM City Davao, on June 21, 2026.
The squad of Jorelle Dale โjadeโ Tan, Vlademer James โvladโ Pelare, Carl Benn Erdnas โbsanโ Cinco, Centaurus Janriel โmagicโ Enot, Sammy โslychโ Ditanongun, and Azem โmonstarโ Taha outlasted competitors from across Mindanao, culminating their campaign with a 3-0 sweep of Davao Cityโs ST Eunoia in the finals to claim the championship and the โฑ50,000 prize purse.
From the outset, WarThunderโs road to the title was marked by consistency, as the team navigated the first three rounds of the LAN tournament without a loss to secure a spot in the top 8 before carrying its unbeaten run with a 6-0 record to advance to the semifinals.
Facing ABG Rakan from Davao City, WarThunder maintained its momentum with a 2-0 victory, booking a finals showdown against ST Eunoia.
Yet making it to Davao was already a battle in itself. Tan recalled that the team nearly missed the tournament after its original sponsor backed out at the last minute, forcing him to personally seek financial support through sponsorship letters and solicitations to the Iligan City government. โ[๐๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ] ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐ฅ. ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ช๐ฌ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข ๐๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ข๐ฏ [๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ] ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ [๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต].โ
With the tournament already approaching and resources still limited, the team turned its attention to what it could control: preparation. Hours of scrimmages and practice sharpened the squad for a tournament that would eventually see them go undefeated.
That preparation showed in the finals. Against ST Eunoia, WarThunder controlled all three rounds to complete a 3-0 shutdown and secure the Duaw Davao championship.
Almost two months after its June triumph, the title stands as more than another addition to WarThunderโs trophy cabinet. From scrambling to keep their tournament hopes alive to sweeping their way through Davao, the squad turned a near-miss into a statement runโcementing its place among Mindanaoโs strongest CODM teams while proving that limited resources need not limit ambition.
Report by Zechariah Rophe Edrote
Proofread by Sophia Fernandez
Graphics by Mohammad Mahathyr Sanggacala
