Consular and Diplomatic Affairs (CDA) student Jericho Ambulo, alongside the other four members of an Asian Call of Duty team, Rampage Gaming, won the Call of Duty (COD) Asia Championship 2019 last March 23. The outmatched another team named Love Potion in Hong Kong, qualifying them for the Call of Duty World League (CWL) in Anaheim, California, USA.
The COD Asia Championship 2019, held at Cyber Games Arena Esports Stadium, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, is a competitive esports event where four teams, namely Love Potion, FaMe apeX, Invincible, and Rampage Gaming, vie for a chance to enter the CWL Anaheim 2019.
Ambulo, who has been competing in the past two years, is a recent addition to the team. In an interview with The Benildean, Ambulo stated he was invited by his Singaporean friend Izzul Amin to join the competition under Rampage Gaming. The team consists of Amin, Hakiem Tajudin and Daniel Ali from Malaysia, and Sean Wong Sui Sheng from Singapore. According to Ambulo, the diversity of the team did not hinder them from winning the championships.
“It was very easy to overcome [the language barrier] as we have played even before and know what we are capable of. We communicate in English. It gave a good effect when our team was formed. It gave a lot of uniqueness and talent,” Ambulo said, adding they united as a team and collaborated really well. He also added that he wanted to prove he can win and redeem himself from last year’s competition as his team, NoVa, lost during the qualifiers.
According to Ambulo, they fulfill their duties as students in the morning, train in the evening and “train intensely for five to eight hours a day.” For the first five or six hours, the team organizes scrimmages or an online practice game against several teams in unranked matches. Afterwards, they talk strategies or film a game session. The team trains with other Singaporean or Malaysian teams, as well as Japanese teams.
Ambulo has been playing competitive Call of Duty for six years. He was inspired after watching a YouTube video of Matthew Haag, known as “Nadeshot,” a former professional Call of Duty player in North America.
“It was 2013 when I saw the video and I wanted to give it a try. After one match, it changed my life. I wanted to reach that dream to be called a [professional],” he said.
Aside from being an esports athlete, Ambulo stated he still wishes to pursue a career in CDA.
“I believe education is still an important asset in life…I try to balance it [studies] equally to the best of my ability. It’s really hard because even if I do say I balance it, it’s still mostly one-sided. What I do is I try to finish everything before practice or over the weekend when we have [days off],” he explained.
Rampage Gaming will represent the Asian region in the CWL Anaheim Open on June 14, 2019 before the 2019 Call of Duty World League Championships.
