It wasn't a dominant run but Lyceum of the Philippine University still asserted its might to retain its Collegiate Center of Esports title.

The Pirates ruled the second season of the CCE Mobile Legends Bang Bang tournament following a masterclass reverse sweep in the grand finale of the season against the Letran Cyberknights in four games over the weekend at the Mall of Asia Music Hall.

Lyceum team captain Paul "Fae" Huang said hunger played a key role to their successful title-retention campaign.

"I always tell the team that even if we won the title in the first season, we still have to remain hungry," Fae said after ruling the tournament presented by Galaxy Racer and Smart, with SM Mall of Asia, Cyberzone, Legion by Lenovo, Mountain Dew, Hawk Bags, Fantech, Huawei AppGallery as sponsors, and MPL-Philippines as official partner.

"We entered the second season without thinking that we are strong. We had the correct mindset that we should always respect our opponents."

Unlike their first season, the Pirates had to grind through the lower bracket before being bested by the Cyberknights in the first game of the finals to send doubts into the minds of Lyceum fans.

Behind the newly-buffed Carmilla of Kurt "Xeero" Pugao, who finished with a 7-1-14 KDA and the damage of Jade "ImbaDeeJade" Mercado's Beatrix which amassed a whopping 121,713 damage dealt in the game, Letran took the first game and was poised to continue its mastery over the Pirates.