Alula Club and Elevate secure spots in Call of Duty Mobile grand finals in Shanghai

Alula Club and Elevate have pushed Filipino Call of Duty: Mobile into one of the biggest stages in the game, earning their place in the CDM 2026 grand finals in Shanghai. For the Philippines, this is more than a qualification note. It is a chance to turn regional momentum into a real claim on the most important Chinese competition in CODM.

The title race now moves into its final stretch, with the Call of Duty Mobile Major Spring 2026 running from March 12 to May 10 and carrying a prize pool of ¥2.2 million, about $322,196. The event is an S-Tier tournament organized by Tencent Games and TiMi Esports, and it brings together 14 teams from China, India, North America, South America, the Middle East, Japan and Southeast Asia. The championship stage uses an online-and-offline format, but the last pressure point is very much live: the lower-bracket semifinal and grand final are set for the Shanghai KPL Esports Center.

That matters because the CDM Major is not some side event on the calendar. It is the benchmark series for CODM in China, introduced in 2021 and built into the sport’s competitive identity ever since. When Filipino teams like Alula Club and Elevate survive that kind of field, they do more than extend a bracket run. They show that Southeast Asia can keep pace with the deepest regional talent pools in the game, and that the Philippines remains a serious part of the international mobile CoD conversation.

The stakes are bigger now because the last weekend in Shanghai will decide more than seeding or points. A deep run would put Filipino names in front of a larger Chinese audience, sharpen the country’s reputation in the scene, and give local fans a result that can fuel more attention, more investment and more belief in CODM esports at home. In a circuit built around elite competition, visibility comes from winning on the biggest stage, not just surviving it.

Alula Club and Elevate now carry that burden into Shanghai with the trophy still in play. The path ahead is narrow, the field is global and the finish line is a live one in China, where a Filipino breakthrough could echo far beyond this spring’s bracket.