2024 MPL Philippines season

The 2024 MPL Philippines Season is 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 will be divided into two splits: Season 13 is accompanied by MDL Philippines Season 3 while Season 14 will be 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 will likely begin by August and end by November.

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 will be the qualifying tournament for Philippine teams to the MLBB M6 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Only the champions and the runner-up teams will be qualifying 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.

Season 14 will be the succeeding season following the Mid Season Cup. The Season 14 champions will become one of two-Filipino teams representing the country and the league in the M6 World Championships in Kuala Lumpur. Currently, three Filipino teams have consecutively-won the last four world championship series: Blacklist International (M3), Team Liquid PH (M4), and Falcons AP Bren (M2 and M5).

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.

Season 13
Season 13 is 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.

Transactions
The following transfers are only from the team's starting five and substitutes along with its coaching and managing staffs. These transactions include departures, transfers and regional imports.


 * On the 5 November 2023, Borris James “Brusko” Parro leaves Minana EVOS and joins the MPL Indonesian-team RRQ Hoshi.
 * On the 5 December 2023, John "Irrad" Tuazon leaves RSG Philippines and joins the MPL Indonesian-team RRQ Hoshi.
 * On the 5 January, John Theo “Coach Theo” Eusebio leaves RSG Philippines and joins the MPL Indonesian-team EVOS Glory. Eusebio won one MPLI Invitational title with the team.
 * On the 7 January, Eman “EMANN” Sangco leaves RSG Philippines and joins the MPL Indonesian-team Bigetron Alpha. Sangco won one MPL title, one MSC title and one MPLI Invitational title.
 * On the 9 January, Mark “Krammm” Rusiana leaves ONIC Philippines and joins the MPL Malaysian-team Selangor Red Giants.
 * On the 11 January, Czedrick “Yoshinu” Romero leaves ONIC Philippines and joins TNC Pro Team.
 * On the 12 January, Vrendon “Coach Vren” Lim left AP Bren and joins the MPL Indonesian-team RRQ Hoshi as its Head Coach. Vren won one MPL title with the team and one world championship.
 * On the 13 January, John “Perkz” Sumawan leaves ONIC Philippines and joins Minana EVOS.
 * On the 13 January, John “Innocent” Banal leaves TNC Pro Team and joins Selangor Red Giants.
 * On the 15 January, Dean Christian “Raizen” Sumagui leaves ONIC Philippines and joins TNC Pro Team.
 * On the 15 January, King Cyric “K1NGKONG” leaves TNC Pro Team and joins ONIC Philippines.
 * On the 26 January, Jon Redick “Super Red” Bordeos left Blacklist International and joins the MPL Indonesian-team EVOS Glory.
 * On the 26 January, Kent Anthony “Souuul” Baesa leaves RSG Philippines and joins the MPL Cambodian-team SeeYouSoon.
 * On the 29 January, Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera leaves ECHO Philippines and joins the MPL Indonesian-team AURA Fire. Cabrera won one MPL title with the squad and one world title.
 * On the 2 February, Jhon Marl “JM” Sebastian leaves Minana EVOS and joins the MPL Indonesian-team Bigetron Alpha.
 * On the 14 February, Grant Duane “Kelra” Pillas and Patrick James “E2MAX” Caidic leaves Omega Esports for ONIC Philippines. Pillas and Caidic won one MSC title with its roster as Execration in 2021.
 * On the 15 February, Joshua Garcia “Ch4knu” Mangilog was demoted to the MDL.
 * On the 15 February, Ajay “Ajayyy” Rubio gets demoted to the MDL.
 * On the 16 February, Ezequiel “Spideeey” Caulian leaves Omega Esports.
 * On the 21 February, Robert “Coach Trebor” Sanchez left ECHO Philippines and joins AP Bren as its Technical Coach. Sanchez won one MPL title with the team and one world championship.
 * On the 21 February, Ian Jakob “Rindo” Seguiran and Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales, left Blacklist International and joins the MPL Cambodian-team BURN x FLASH. Gonzales won a Gold Medal with the team in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
 * On the 21 February, Kyle Dominic “Dominic” Soto and Renejay “Renejay” Barcase sits MPL Philippines Season 13 out.

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.

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.

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.

(#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.

(#1) Falcons AP Bren vs. (#3) RSG Philippines
Winning team in this match qualify for the MSC 2024.

(#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.

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.

Regular Season Standings
Unlike the second season of MDL Philippines, only ten teams will be competing 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.

MPL Philippines Season 14
MPL Philippines Season 14 will be 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.

Departures

 * On 27 May, Christian "Bitoy" Casten leaves Minana EVOS.
 * On 29 May, Robee "Yasuwo" Pormocille leaves TNC Pro Team.
 * On 30 May, Czedrick "Yoshinu" Romero leaves TNC Pro Team.
 * On 3 July, Kenneth "Yue" Tadeo leaves Blacklist International.
 * On 4 July, Danerie "Wise" Del Rosario and Johnmar "OhMyV33Nus" Villaluna leaves Blacklist International for Aurora Esports.
 * On 5 July, Edward "Edward" Dapadap leaves Blacklist International.
 * On 8 July, Ben "Benthings" Maglaque leaves TNC Pro Team.
 * On 10 July, David "BOSS A" Gamboa leaves Fnatic ONIC Philippines and Dean "Raizen" Sumagui leaves TNC Pro Team.
 * On 12 July, Patrick "E2MAX" Caidic and Abraham "Bam" Unida leaves Fnatic ONIC Philippines.
 * On 17 July, Jonard "Demonkite" Caranto leaves RSG Philippines and have reportedly transferred to a new team. His new team is yet to be announced.

Return(s)

 * On 8 July, Shenemaiah "SDzyz" Chu returns to TNC Pro Team as the team's Jungler. He previously played for the team during MPL Philippines Season 8 to Season 10 before transferring to MPL MENA's Team Occupy.

Others

 * On 8 July, Indonesian-based esports organization EVOS Esports have terminated its partnership with Minana Esports and will be pulling out from MPL Philippines. This decision was made for EVOS to focus on the esports scenespecifically in MLBB in Indonesia.
 * On 16 July, the Serbian-based esports organization Aurora Esports have announced its entry in the MLBB scene as the replacement for Minana EVOS. Aurora Esports is a professional esports organization notable in Dota 2.

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.

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" Aquino–one of the hosts whom quoted the comment made by Hohl, discussed it alongside David "Assassin Dave" Mao–host-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.