UAAP Esports: Inside UST Arji’s Bag of Charms and Pre-game Rituals

By: Niklas Arriola

Superstitions have always been part of sports for as long as competitions were waged.  From amateurs to the pros, lucky charms and amulets have found places in hems and pockets. It could be something as simple as a piece of clothing, such as Michael Jordan’s practice shorts, or Selena Williams’ lucky socks. Even Christiano Ronaldo’s hairstyle was considered a lucky charm. These are some of the practices famous athletes apply to put luck in their favor.

These old beliefs have transcended the physical court onto the virtual battlefields, particularly with UST’s captain Arjohn “Arji” Roxas and his pack of Teletigers during their Mobile Legends Bang Bang tournaments. 

“Sobrang dami naming rituals as a team, ang daming kong dinadala pag tournaments namen,” the 18-year-old Journalism student from Espana shared.

Inside the Arji’s game day bag, charms ranging from common to unique items that he has collected throughout the years.

First on the list? a stack of clothes.

“Yung mga damit na yan, lahat yan sinuot na ng players sa team namin,” explained the skipper, with the shirts ranging from previous uniforms of fellow Teletigers that bannered the team in the past.

Digging deeper in the pockets, we found a can of Mentos mints, which has exactly three pieces left. It should have been four pieces, but their coach, Theodore “Uomi” Ignacio, accidentally ate one. According to Roxas, the can of mints is one of their lucky charms, and they have kept the can for years.

The can has yet to lose another sugary piece since last year, with the skipper believing that just like the team, the mints have been consistently there during their golden finishes in their current tournament runs.

Lastly, the most vital piece of the Teletiger’s charms is actually connected to their Tomasian roots: An encased papal coin.

Blessed by Pope Francis himself, the coin has been in the possession of the Espana-based squad during their Alliance Games: Metro West tourney, in which they emerged as champions.

Coincidence or not, the team has then included the blessed artifact in their game preps, putting the coin in the middle of their desks on-stage.

“Pagnawala to parang nawawala yung powers namin ganon,” Arji shared, being the coin’s safekeeper in and out of games.

Aside from the lucky bag, the team even has a lucky player that they required to go during their Alliance Games National Finals stint.

“Pag pumupunta siya, lagi kaming nanalo, kaya nirequire namin pumunta.”

Of course, their warm-ups end in a huddle where the team musters their courage with the usual pep talks and a prayer they exclusively recite before heading to matches.

In some instances, the Teletigers beat the fear out of their hearts with a strong hit on the chest, a move they obtained during one of their tournaments.

“Nung SMART [University Clash], parang Game 1 sobrang dominant ng pagkatalo nila, like 0/2 yung score niya tas Gold Laner den, parang halata yung kaba sa kanya. Ginawa namin naghuddle kami sa labas, tapos pinalo niya (a Teletiger) sa dibdib ng sobrang lakas.”

The love tap completely shrugged their player’s cold feet away as he flipped a 0/2 beating into 22 kills as Roger on the succeeding match.

With all these talks on lucky charms, huddles and preps, the Teletigers will need every single one of them to go their way with their quest for dominance as the inaugural champions for MLBB in UAAP’s Esports Tournament.