2024 MPL Philippines Season

The 2024 MPL Philippines Season was the seventh year of professional gameplay and the second year of development talent gameplay for the country. MPL Philippines is a professional esports league for the MOBA game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang''. The season was divided into two splits: Season 13 was accompanied by MDL Philippines Season 3 while Season 14 was accompanied by MDL Philippines Season 4. Season 13 began on March 15 and concluded the season with the Grand Finals match on May 26, 2024. Meanwhile, Season 14 began on August 16th and ended with the Grand Finals match on October 20, 2024.

MDL Philippines was established as the second development league in Southeast Asia behind MDL Indonesia in 2023 and its first two seasons were played during the same year. Season 13 was the qualifying tournament for Philippine teams to the 2024 Mid-Season Cup in Riyadh. Season 14 on the other hand was the qualifying tournament for Philippine teams to the MLBB M6 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Only the champions and the runner-up teams qualified for both international tournaments.

MPL Philippines Season 13 was the first professional season of the league in 2024. It is succeeding a season that culminated the championship of Falcons AP Bren for the second time in league history, and the second time in world history, winning the title on home soil against ONIC Esports. Furthermore, the Mid-Season Cup is hosted for the first time outside of Southeast Asia and the first tournament bearing the rebranded name “Mid-Season Cup”. The tournament was formerly known as the “Southeast Asia Cup”. Liquid ECHO defeated the defending world champions and MPL champions Falcons AP Bren in the Grand Finals in a 40 sweep. This is Liquid ECHO's first title as "Liquid ECHO" and the second title under the "ECHO" brand name.

MPL Philippines Season 14 was the second professional season of the league in 2024. This season is the precursor season after the Mid Season Cup and the start of the qualifying matchups for the MLBB M6 World Championship in Malaysia. Fnatic ONIC Philippines made history by becoming the only team to have a thirteen-game winning streak, breaking the record of Blacklist International's 12-wins straight during Season 8. Moreover, this is the first time that Fnatic ONIC Philippines qualified for the M6 World Championships since Season 8 following their 3–1 victory over the defending world champions Falcons AP Bren. Furthermore, Aurora Gamingthe indirect replacement to Minana EVOSqualified for the first time for the playoffs, the grand finals, and the M6 World Championships despite only joining the league in the present season. Fnatic ONIC Philippines won its first organizational title since its entry to the MPL Philippines pro-scene in Season 4.

Occurring in the same year was the international multi-game tournament Games of the Future 2024 which was held in Kazan, Russia. Falcons AP Bren and Blacklist International were invited to participate alongside teams that have competed during the M5 World Championships and teams that were directly invited by organizers.

Format

MPL Philippines’ Seasons are split into two: The Regular Season and the Playoffs. The Regular Season consists of fourteen games. Each team competing will be playing a double-round robin tournament format, facing each other twice in the span of six to eight weeks. Only the top six teams will advance to the playoffs and the remaining two will be eliminated. Furthermore, the Regular Season instituted a new pointing system wherein:

* The team who won a 2–0 series will receive 3 points;
* The team who won a 2–1 series will receive 3 points;
* The team who lost a 2–1 series will receive 1 point;
* The team who lost a 2–0 series will receive 0 points.

Playoff format

* The Top 6 teams from the Regular Season table will advance to the playoff round. The bottom 2 will be eliminated from contention.
* Teams Seeded 5 and 6 will be facing each other for a Best of 5 series to advance to the second round in a modified King of the Hill Tournament format.
* The winning team from Match 1 will advance to face Seed 4 and play a Best of 5 series to advance to the Upper Bracket Semifinals.
* Seed 3 will be matching up with Seed 2 in the playoffs, making Seed 3 a qualifying team in the semifinals.
* All teams will be playing a Best of 5 series except for the Grand Finals which will be a Best of 7.

Venue

Split 1

Season 13

Season 13 was the first MPL Philippines season following the conclusion of the M5 World Championships. During Season 8, the league shifted to a franchise-based system, eliminating regional qualifiers for local teams and fixing only eight franchise teams to compete in MPL Philippines. The Philippines is the second league to adhere to the franchise-based system, the other being Indonesia. The season began on March 15 and concluded its regular season on May 5. The playoffs were held from May 22 to 26 at SM Southmall Events Center in Las Piñas

The same 8 teams will be participating in the tournament which includes: Falcons AP Bren, Blacklist International, Team Liquid PH, Minana EVOS, Fnatic ONIC PH, Smart Omega, RSG Philippines, and TNC Pro Team.

Falcons AP Bren won the Games of the Future tournament in Kazan, defeating ONIC Esports 3 games to 1. Falcons AP Bren is the only Filipino team to be part of the Top 4 as Blacklist International lost to Fire Flux Esports of Turkey during the Quarterfinals of the single-elimination bracket.

Teams

With the annual MSC 2024 tournament being held in Saudi Arabia, the tournament became the new sight for opportunities for international organizationa tournament with a $3,000,000 prize pool. International organizations have been partnering with Filipino organizations in order to fund and subsequently target the winning teams that can compete in MSC 2024.

On 19 May 2024, AP Bren announced its partnership with MPL MENA Organization Team Falcons for the season-ending playoffs. A day later, ONIC PH announced their own partnership with the European-based organization Fnatic, and a day later, ECHO announced their own partnership for the upcoming playoffs with Team Liquid. Liquid however, has announced their own acquisition of the AURA Esports franchise, thereby rebranding the team from ECHO/AURA to Team Liquid.

Regular Season Standings

Weekly accolades

* Week 1 MVP - ( TLPH) - Alston "Sanji" Pabico
* Week 2 MVP - (FNOP) - Grant "Kelra" Pillas
* Week 3 MVP - (FNOP) - Jomearie "Escalera" Santos
* Week 4 MVP - (FNOP) - Frince "Super Frince" Ramirez
* Week 5 MVP - (FCAB) - Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo
* Week 6 MVP - (OMG) - Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog
* Week 7 MVP - (FCAB) - Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano

Playoffs

Falcons AP Bren was the first team to qualify for the Playoffs during their Week 5, 2–0 sweep over TNC Pro Team which propelled them to an 8–1 record, seeding Fnatic ONIC PH to Number 2 following their loss to RSG Philippines during Day 1 of Week 5. Moreover, Fnatic ONIC PH was the next team to qualify for the playoffs after winning over Smart Omega in Week 5 Day 2.

After a 2–0 victory over Fnatic ONIC PH in Week 6, Minana EVOS qualified for the playoffs as the potential fifth seed for the first time since Season 9 when they were still branded as "Nexplay EVOS". This is the first playoffs for Minana EVOS since their rebrand.

TNC Pro Team misses the playoffs for the fourth-consecutive season after losing 2–0 to their Week 6 match. TNC Pro Team's last playoff appearance was their third-place finish during MPL Philippines Season 9.

Blacklist International secures the final playoff spot after winning one match against Team Liquid PH to tie the game series 1-1. That gave Blacklist International enough games to qualify for the MPL Philippines Season 13 playoffs, thereby eliminating Smart Omega from playoff contention.

After a 2–1 victory over Team Liquid PH, Falcons AP Bren finishes the regular season with an 11–3 record and 35 points, giving them the first seed in the playoffs. Team Liquid PH remained the second seed because of their total number of regular season points and due to the promptly defeat of RSG Philippines to Blacklist International which only gave RSG an additional 1 point to secure the third seed.

Day 1: Gauntlet Play-in

MPL Philippines Season 13's playoffs began with the introduction of the Philippines' continual accolades from MSC 2018 to the M5 World Championship and subsequent Games of the Future.

(5) Blacklist International vs. (6) Minana EVOS

(4) Fnatic ONIC PH vs. (5) Blacklist International

Day 2: Upper Bracket Semifinals

(2) Liquid ECHO vs. (3) RSG Philippines

(1) Falcons AP Bren vs. (5) Blacklist International

Day 3: Upper Bracket Finals and Lower Bracket Semifinals

Winner of the Upper Bracket Final match qualify for the MSC 2024, loser is relegated to the Lower Bracket Final match. Liquid ECHO qualified for MSC 2024 after winning a close Best-of-5 matchup with defending world champions Falcons AP Bren in the upper bracket finals.

(1) Falcons AP Bren vs. (2) Liquid ECHO

(3) RSG Philippines vs. (5) Blacklist International

Blacklist International has appeared in all MPL Philippines Grand Finals since Season 10 and winning one of three appearances. Season 13 is the first since Season 9 where Blacklist International would miss an international tournament such as MSC 2024 and the Grand Finals.

Day 4: Lower Bracket Final

(1) Falcons AP Bren vs. (3) RSG Philippines

Winning team in this match qualify for the MSC 2024.

Grand Final

(2) Liquid ECHO vs. (1) Falcons AP Bren

Liquid ECHO and Falcons AP Bren will be having a rematch in the Grand Finals following FCAP's defeat in the upper bracket finals to TLPH in 5 games. FCAP defeated RSG-PH to qualify for MSC 2024 and a slot in the Grand Finals, poised to win back-to-back titles and become the third organization in MPL history to achieve such feat.

Liquid ECHO defeated Falcons AP Bren in a 4–0 sweep Grand Finals. This series was the second sweep by Liquid ECHO in a Grand Finals matchup since S11's 4–0 sweep against Blacklist International.

Playoff Bracket

Final Placements

Alongside MPL Indonesia, the Philippines is the only lone region-country in the MPL to have two teams to qualify for MSC in Riyadh.

MDL Philippines Season 3

Regular Season Standings

Unlike the second season of MDL Philippines, only ten teams competed in the tournament with Euphoria Esports and MHRLK Esports exiting the amateur scene.

Playoffs

Similar to the former playoff tournament of MPL Philippines prior to Season 13, MDL Philippines Season 3 will transition from a double-elimination bracket to a single-elimination bracket of the Top 6 teams. Teams seeded third to sixth will play in the Quarterfinals/Knockout Round and will advance to face the first and second seed in the Semifinals. All games apart from the Grand Finals will be played in a Best of 3. The Finals will be played as a Best of 5.

MDL Philippines Season 3's playoffs was held at the Shooting Gallery Studios where MPL Philippines' regular season had been hosted prior to the playoff preparation break.

Both Blacklist Academy / Blacklist Rough World Era and TLPH Proud advances to the Semifinals to face off the two top seeds in MDL Philippines, RRQ Kaito and Omega. RRQ Kaito defeated Blacklist Academy in the Semifinals of the playoffs, qualifying the team to its first Grand Finals appearance. Meanwhile, TLPH Proud defeated Omega Neos 2–0 in the Semifinals on the same day, thereby qualifying to the Grand Finals for the third consecutive season in a row in a potential three-peat scenario. They will be facing RRQ Kaito in the Grand Finals.

RRQ Kaito wins the MDL Philippines Season 3 Grand Finals, defeating the two-time defending champions TLPH Proud 3–2 in the series. RRQ is the first organization to win an international league's title in the Philippines as RRQ Kaito is a team under the RRQ organization, an Indonesian-based organization.

Final Placement

Split 2

MPL Philippines Season 14

MPL Philippines Season 14 was the second split of MPL Philippines following the conclusion of the ''Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' Mid Season Cup in Riyadh. However, the offseason MPL Philippines Season 14 have begun following the conclusion of the MPL Philippines Season 13 Grand Finals.

Regular Season Standings

Weekly Accolades

*

Playoffs

Play-in Tournament

(#3) Smart Omega vs. (#6) Blacklist International

The first match of the MPL Philippines playoffs was between the original rivalry between team Smart Omega and Blacklist International. Coming into the playoffs, Omega has a 4–1 record over Blacklist International, winning their matches with 2-0 and 2-1 victories during the regular season. This is also the first season which sees the MVP trio (commonly known as MV3) of "Edward" Dapadap, Kiel "Oheb" Soriano, and Imam "Hadji" Salic officially ending following Dapadap's early transfer to Aurora Gaming. Moreover, this series is notable for the return of Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilogwho previously played for Omega Neosreturning to the pro-scene full time.

Omega's playoff drought prolongs as they fall in an upset 3-0 match against the underdogs Blacklist International who signed former MPL KH Jungler MP the King and loaned Exp Laner from Bigetron Alpha Lord JM.

(#4) Aurora Gaming vs. (#5) Team Liquid PH

The second match was between the debuting playoff team Aurora Gaming who against the defending MPL Philippines champions Team Liquid Philippines. TLPH was coming off a rough 8–6 regular season that placed them in sixth place. Initially, Aurora Gaming poised to be a formidable challenger to the former world champions, takings Games 1 and 3 unscathed of potential comebacks. However, TLPH would retaliate in Games 2 and 4 that would position them in comfortable compositions of heroes and bans. In Game 5, continual gold-lead shifts would hinder either team's ability to close off Game 5. Ultimately, Aurora Gaming defeated TLPH in the second series to face off the first seed Fnatic ONIC Philippines in the next round.

TLPH becomes the first former world champions to bow out from the MPL Philippines Season 14 playoffs following Blacklist International's advancement during the first match. Furthermore, they become the first MPL Philippines champion since Blacklist International (since the introduction of the franchise based-system) to have an early-playoff exit as the defending champions. The last time a defending champion failed to defend their title and exit earlier than expected from the playoffs was Blacklist International who failed to even qualify for playoffs in Season 9.

Upper Bracket First Round

(#2) Falcons AP Bren vs. (#6) Blacklist International

A rematch of the MPL Philippines Season 12 finals is reigning world champions Falcons AP Bren up against M3 World Champions Blacklist International. Blacklist however, would suffer a 3–2 defeat over the reigning world championsa feat many were taken by surprise by the underdog team pushing the series to the five-game series.

(#1) Fnatic ONIC Philippines vs. (#4) Aurora Gaming

The 13-1 first seeded Fnatic ONIC PH defeats the debuting organization Aurora Gaming in a 3–0 sweep. This is the first upper-bracket finals appearance of the ONIC PH franchise since Season 8.

Upper Bracket Finals & Lower Bracket Semifinals

(#1) Fnatic ONIC Philippines vs. (#2) Falcons AP Bren

The top two seeds of MPL Philippines matched up during the highly anticipated upper bracket finals that sees the resurging ONIC Philippines franchise compete against the consistency of the reigning defending world champions. Falcons AP Bren is also known for defeating ONIC Philippines' sister teamFnatic ONIC Indonesia (known as ONIC Indonesia during M5), in the Grand Finals of M5 in seven games. Fnatic ONIC Philippines would 3-1 the defending world champions, qualifying for their MPL Philippines grand finals slot for the first time since Season 8, but also its berth in the M6 World Championships as the first representatives of the Philippines.

(#4) Aurora Gaming vs. (#6) Blacklist International

Aurora Gaming, known for having the services of two former Blacklist International stars in Edward Dapadap and Renejay Barcase, the underdog team faltered in a 3–0 sweep against Aurora, abruptly ending Blacklist International's playoff run in the same spot as last season.

Lower Bracket Finals

(#2) Falcons AP Bren vs. (#4) Aurora Gaming

The first best-of-seven Lower Bracket Finals was between Falcons AP Bren and Aurora Gaming. Falcons AP Bren were fighting for a chance to go back-to-back world championship titles in the M6 World Championships while Aurora Gaming were poised to be the first newly-established organization to qualify to the finals and M6. After initially leading 3–1 in the series, Falcons AP Bren were able to make a stunning comeback in Game 5 to force Game 6. However, Aurora Gaming wins the seven-game series to qualify for the first worlds appearance and first grand finals appearance against Fnatic ONIC Philippines.

Grand Finals

(#1) Fnatic ONIC Philippines vs. (#4) Aurora Gaming

After leading to a 20 start to the series, Fnatic ONIC Philippines would stumble in Game 3 when Aurora Gaming was able to pick up certain comfort picks that pushed the series into five games. However, with Fnatic ONIC's continuous dominancecoming from rebounding from the previous games' mistakes, the team took it to match point. However, after another game of potentially winning ONIC its first MPL title in its Philippines franchise, Aurora Gaming was able to win Game 5 to push the series into six games.

The Grand Finals for MPL Philippines Season 14 would be the first since MPL Philippines Season 7 to go to seven games. Fnatic ONIC Philippines defeats Aurora Gaming in seven games after a comeback victory during the last minute of gameplay where Dapadap set the play to stun two members of the FNOC squad unknowingly to get kicked by Parro to eventually give Fnatic ONIC 4 kills to none. This is Fnatic ONIC's first title as an organization since Season 4.

Playoff Bracket

Final Placements

MDL Philippines Season 4

During the second split MDL Philippines Season 4, the league announced its first local qualifying tournaments for local teams in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This is the first open-qualifier tournament by the MPL-MDL franchise in the Philippines since MPL Philippines Season 7 prior to their transition to a franchise-base system for the professional league. MDL Philippines Season 4 will be travelling across the country for it to qualify deserving teams matching up against all previously-competing teams in Season 3 which includes the defending champions RRQ Kaito.

Controversies

Season 13

Controversial comment

Season 13 was known for having a controversial occurrence during the Third Week of Professional Play when Ian "Fywdchickn" Hohl of Gaimin Gladiators commented in a stream of his thoughts of MPL Philippines Season 13. Initially, Hohl critiqued MPL Philippines and MPL Indonesia together, citing that the production of MPL Indonesia was relatively better than that of MPL Philippines but quickly reiterated that the Philippines' gameplay is substantially better. During the first day of the third week, Hohl's image alongside the exact comment he made was posted during the livestream which the casters have quoted "MPL Philippines is boring".

Continuous backlash was thrown at Hohl for his comments with even players being asked to comment regarding the issue which included David "FlapTzy" Canon and King "K1NGKONG" Perez of Falcons AP Bren and Fnatic ONIC PH to name a few, respectively. In retaliation, Hohl made a public response regarding the matter on his personal YouTube channel which he criticized MPL Philippines' production for manipulating its fans.

In a podcast episode from Mara "Mara" Aquinoone of the hosts whom quoted the comment made by Hohl, discussed it alongside David "Assassin Dave" Maohost-turned head coach in North America, regarding the quote. Hohl personally apologized to Aquino (whom she thanked for posting his response video) following the backlash she received upon the video's posting, to which Aquino affirmed Hohl that it was okay. He also gave thanks to Johnmar "OhMyV33Nus" Villaluna who made a different video citing his comments regarding the issue.

Game Fixing Controversy

On 25 April 2024, Francis "Duckeyyy" Glindro posted on his official Facebook Page a screenshot of former University of Santo Tomas Teletigers Esports Club Head Coach Jigen Paul "Jigen Paul" Masangkay's profile alongside a messenger conversation allegedly working a deal with amateur players to game fix certain matches. The conversation asked an unidentified individual if he/she is willing to pay a ₱100,000 fee (US$1,734.97) to game fix three MPL or MDL Philippines matches. Following the allegations, all MPL organizations and amateur teams have released statements regarding the matter and have launched independent investigations regarding the allegations.

At 9:55 PM of the same day, TNCZ4, the MDL Team affiliated to TNC Pro Team and Z4 Esports have suspended Jhonjie Paul "Jiee" Dela Rosa following match-making allegations surfaced online with tagged screenshots of his conversations with an unidentified individual. Furthermore, Z4 Esports' co-founded JC "King Cosmos" Garcia had inquired a league-wide investigation of the matter.

On 26 April, RSG Philippines released a statement that two amateur players from their affiliated MDL team, RSG-El Ganador Esports in Raven "Aeris" Arellano and Christian John "Nyija" Calantoc were guilty of the match-making allegations and have terminated their rookie contracts following the ordeal.

Awards

Season 13

Season 14

See also

* MPL Philippines
* MPL Indonesia
* Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
* Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup
* Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship

References

{{MLBBesports
March 2024 sports events in the Philippines
2024 in esports
2024 in Philippine sport
Esports competitions in the Philippines
Sports leagues in the Philippines
2024 multiplayer online battle arena tournaments
MPL Philippines seasons