South.GG Exclusive: Avast ye, the 6045pirates arr here!

During the onset of the Valorant beta testing stage, one young Cebuano sought out to make a Valorant team and make a name for the Cebuano esports scene. In the middle of a world-devastating pandemic, a crew of players banded together to raise up and lift the Filipino flag, smothered with Bisaya pride.

Yuki “zyki” Uruma, a 22-year-old student from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), brought together players from all around Cebu to form the motley crew of players soon to make a name in the Cebuano esports scene. Thus, in November of 2020, the 6045pirates sailed onto uncharted seas and into the battlefields of Valorant.

Hailing from the southern end of the Queen City, the team is composed of Vince “Flash” Medado, Elner “magicss” Lebumfacil, Carl Alexander “SenyorCarl” Carandang, Michael James “2geMonstah” Goopio, Khent “kira” Herda, and Keith “FireSaiyajin” Madarang. If you’ve been following the collegiate esports scene, the name FireSaiyajin might ring a bell. If it doesn’t maybe this top play from his game against TUP GearHawk Esports might serve as a refresher.

6045pirates as a team name was formed on the idea of nationalistic representation and a love for hobbies. 6045 stands for the ZIP code for their place of origin, the city of Talisay in Cebu, while “pirates” came from the team owner’s love in collecting One Piece merchandise. “The reason why we brought the ZIP code is that we want to show everyone what we represent. We want to tell them that the Bisaya esports scene is full of potential,” said Yuki Uruma, coach and co-owner of the team.

“In October of 2020, we were scouting for players to play in our team, but unfortunately none of those who applied for the tryouts met the requirements,” said Uruma, talking about his recruitment process, “so we started scouting some promising CS:GO players in Cebu and negotiated with them to play for 6045[pirates].”

The team has been competing and winning in several tournaments since November of last year. Now, they have been invited as one of the playing teams for the Valorant Champions Tour for the Philippines, competing alongside teams like Empire Esports and Bren Esports.

“We are nervous and excited; nervous because the future of the team relies on this tournament, excited because we know we can do it,” Uruma says when asked about his team’s feelings towards the upcoming tournament.

The Valorant Champions Tour Philippines Stage 1 starts on February 27, 2021 and runs until March 1, 2021. Let’s all catch them there and support them as they bring pride and honor to the Cebuano esports scene!