JGame Esports looks to turn PKL Grand Finals loss into lessons ahead of KNC
MANILA — Despite falling short in the Philippines Kings League Grand Finals, JGame Esports (JGE) has shifted its focus to its upcoming international campaign, having less than two weeks to prepare for the 2026 Honor of Kings Nation Clash scheduled on Nov. 20 to 29 in Penang, Malaysia.
With limited time to recover from the finals, the team is expected to take a short break before returning to preparations, with the coaching staff looking to carry the lessons from their championship series into their next competition.
Gerald “Tgee” Gelacio, JGE’s head coach also emphasized the importance of experience, noting that their opponents had an advantage after competing in several international tournaments, while their own roster was only in its first season together.
“Experience talaga ‘yung nagdadala sa game,” Gelacio said, adding that the team still has room to improve before reaching its peak performance.
Meanwhile, the players identified composure and better in-game decision-making as key takeaways from their campaign, stressing the need to avoid pressure and improve their execution, particularly around objectives.
Miguel “Migss” Sto. Niño, JGE’s Roamer, admitted that they struggled to replicate the confidence and aggression they displayed in their earlier matches during the Grand Finals.
“Kailangan all-in kami… ‘wag lang kami ma-pressure siguro para maibigay namin ‘yung best namin,” he said, emphasizing the importance of enjoying the game to bring out their full potential.
JGE must balance immediate recovery with quick gameplay polishing with only under two weeks before competing on the international stage at the KNC.
According to Tgee, JGames’ training focus will on their team chemistry and experience gap that occurred in the grand finals.
The Filipino squad plans to sharpen their in-game knowledge, improve objective control, and avoid small errors that could potentially turn the whole game around. They plan to utilize all the valuable lessons they learned from a veteran and high-caliber team to reach a higher performance peak in their upcoming international tournaments.
“Biggest experience namin talaga is ‘yung versus Boom. Kasi, Boom Esports naman, alam naman natin na caliber team talaga sila pagdating sa international. And doon namin nakukuha ‘yung experience na itra-translate namin going sa KNC and international,” said Gelacio.
Finishing third in the regular season with a 7-2 standing, JGE secured their spot in the play-ins.
They faced Team Nemesis in the first round, dominating them 4-0 as they continued their run in the upper bracket semifinals.
Afterwards, JGE went up against the second seeded TNT Tropang Alab, losing to them in six games, 2-4, eventually dropping to the lower bracket, wherein they first faced Titan Esports Club, surviving them in seven games, 4-3, booking a rematch against TNT in the lower bracket finals.
JGame exacted vengeance against TNT after a high octane seven-game series, 4-3, securing the last grand finals spot.
Coming into the grand finals as the underdogs, JGE failed to sustain the dominance of BOOM Esports, ultimately yielding to them in five games, 1-4.
Meanwhile, BOOM, JGE, AND TNT Tropang Alab are set to represent the Philippines once again in the Honor of Kings International Championship (KIC) from December 26, 2026, to January 10, 2027, in Jakarta, Indonesia.