Returning after a reverse sweep victory last year, the Computer Studies (CS) Chameleons gleamed gold with a sweep against the Business and Management (B&M) Vipers in a best-of-five series, defending their title in the Palarong Atenista ‘26 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) grand finals.

The CS Chameleons main roster — Gabrielle “Magnolia” Pospos,  Yuri “Yuri” Banaag, Vince “Niks” Ledesma, James “ahsksjskqjwka” Guides, and Marc “Xeno-” Bujawe — included three returning players, namely Banaag, Ledesma, and Bujawe.

According to their core player, Guides, the CS Chameleons were already confident in their abilities even before the tournament proper.

“Relaxed lang talaga, hindi kami naprepressure [dahil] confident lang talaga kami,” he maintained.

The early stretch of the game unfolded with Bujawe’s Hayabusa snatching first blood and the first Turtle, before Guides’ Cici set the scene for the 19-7 victory with 8-0 turrets toppled, one Lord employed, and finished with an 11.1k gold advantage in delivering a win in a dominating fashion.

The second game commenced with each team skirmishing with no casualties, consequently stealing each other’s objectives.

The Chameleons pushed by securing the first Turtle, whereas B&M Vipers’ Suyin as Rafaella retaliated by taking the first blood, but ahsksjskqjwka’s Carmilla responded with a double kill for B&M Vipers’ Rafaella and Cecilion.

The CS Chameleons continued pressuring the second Turtle, with a failed B&M Vipers’ ambush into a two-for-one exchange.

The B&M Vipers’ defenses were left broken through, with the CS Chameleons coming out on top as the winner with 15-5 kills while destroying every turret with one Lord-assisted push and a 12.9k gold advantage — a critical matchpoint.

Although they displayed strategic team-based power plays, the CS Chameleons’ coach Shawn Miguel revealed that they were given no time to organize their coordination on and off their devices, especially with two new players added to the team.

“Tulo na players kay naa nay synergy, ang duha ra wala. Pero, confident kami kay hawod among experience lane [referring to Guides],” he affirmed.

With consistent advantages in gold, kill, objective, and towers overthrown throughout games one and two, the CS Chameleons are one round away from the title.

Being a decisive game, the CS Chameleons and B&M Vipers exchanged pokes, and took a calculated risk and collectively charged at the first Turtle, led by Bujawe’s Aamon, clawing a double kill with support from Banaag’s Rafaela, while Magnolia’s Moskov fell amid the clash.

Taking advantage of the numerical lead, the three-man CS Chameleons attempted to invade the enemy territory but were quickly shut down after the B&M Vipers’ quick respawns.

At the three-minute mark, both teams were neck and neck, but the CS Chameleons secured the second Turtle and killed through with their Aamon-Rafaela-Gusion-Gloo force.

While the B&M Vipers recuperated by farming their territory’s objectives, the CS Chameleons ambushed and eventually wore down the opponents.

The B&M Vipers retreated to their base, leaving the CS Chameleons the opportunity to destroy a turret per lane.

During the ongoing team fight, the livestream feed went black, cutting the game short and rendering the results inconclusive before the device’s shutdown.

At the time of the interruption, the CS Chameleons led with 13-9 in kills, 6-0 in turrets, and an 8.1k gold lead, crowning them as the overall game champion

Despite the third game being cut short due to a technical difficulty, their victory was built on meticulous, tangible planning.

“Ang ginahanap ng uban kay hard scrim pud [unya] ang gusto nako kay challenging ang dula. Naglisod jud mi [nangita ug mga scrim] 2 weeks before ani,” Miguel recalled.

The team started to gain skill-based momentum and synergy only two days before the tournament proper, especially crediting their upskilling to their wide hero pool and drafting.

Both believing they could defend the CS Chameleon’s title, Miguel mentioned group pushes as a vital force, while Guides attributed their victory to the team members’ individual skills.

CS Chameleons’ title triumph is trailed by B&M Vipers’ silver and the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) Tigers’ bronze.

The MLBB grand finals tournament was held at Arrupe Hall and simultaneously live-streamed via the SAMAHAN Palarong Atenista Facebook page last September 20.