Elevate coach reflects on mammoth comeback with historic CODM season

MANILA, Philippines — Elevate’s all-Filipino Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) team has had quite a season. The squad has been dubbed by many as “The Golden Road”, a term usually associated with League of Legends esports wherein a team has won all the major events in the esports calendar within the same year.

The Filipino squad started the 2024 season by winning the Garena Masters Season 6, followed by Garena Masters Season 7 two months later. In the regional Garena Finals, Elevate crawled back from the lower bracket finals to take down fellow Filipino team Stalwart Esports, 4-3.

In preparation for the world championship Elevate took down top teams GodLike, Stalwart Esports and Xrock. It also swept last year's CODM world champion Wolves and defeated top team Qing Jiu Club to win the CODM Summer Invitational (CDSI).

In the CODM World Championship, a dominant Elevate won all its matches, sweeping the semifinals (against Brazil’s Galorys) and grand finals (against China’s Qing Jiu Club) to complete their golden year — an immense feat for a team that failed to qualify to the world stage last year.

The roster previously under the banner of WPM Lowkings, the team suffered a  heartbreak when it placed third in last year’s regional Garena Finals, missing out on the world championship.

"Ang sinabi ko sa kanila, kailangan matuto lang kami sa pagkatalo namin last year at maging consistent sa ginagawa namin at mas double effort pa lalo para makuwa namin ngayon taon,” Elevate CODM coach Mark "Olea" Olea told Philstar.com.

Elevate indeed came back stronger, ruling the Garena Masters Season 6 as kick off its 2024 campaign.

“Masasabi ko na sobrang nag-improve kami compared last year. Malaking tulong samin si KenDy. Simula nag kinuha ko siya, [yung] pagiging beterano at experienced niya sa laro, mas fit siya sa team,” added Olea.

As the team continued to rack up wins, the pressure to perform mounted. However, Olea believes that they were able to overcome this pressure by focusing on their mental game and enjoying the process.

"Siguro na-overcome na namin yung pressure at mas lalo nag-improve yung mental [capabilities] ng team. Lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila na mindset dapat ng champion [yung meron tayo and] maging consistent kami sa ginagawa namin. Laging enjoyin yung game, huwag matakot magkamali. Siguro confident lang [rin] ako sa laro namin at lagi ko inaalam yung mga errors namin, talo man or panalo para mas mag improve pa,” he added.

Even as they took all the major championships this year, Olea said this is just the beginning for the team.

“Expect na hindi mawawala yung gutom namin. Kukunin namin ulit yung back-to-back champs sa worlds [at] magiging consistent pa din kami sa ginagawa namin.”