MPL Philippines Season 9
| 2022 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Game | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Location | Philippines |
| Dates | February 18, 2022– |
| Administrator(s) | Moonton |
Tournament format(s) | Round-robin tournament - Regular Season |
| Teams | 8 |
| Purse | $150,000 USD |
The MPL Philippines Season 9 is the ninth season of the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) of the Philippines. The season began on February 18, 2022, with all teams from last season participating once again. With the 2021+1 Southeast Asian Games being held in May, the conclusion of the season's playoffs would be held around April to give way for Team Sibol's participation in the biennial meet.[1] According to the organizing committee of the league, they have been looking to stage the entire regular season in an offline format but with no live audience in the meantime, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.[2]
Venues and Competition Format[]
Last February 11, the league has received an approval from the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) to conduct an offline setting (LAN event) of the season starting Week 5 of the Regular Season.[3] However in an update from February 14, instead of the originally scheduled Week 5, the MPL will begin its offline format of the tournament starting Week 3 of the Regular Season, which began on March 4, two weeks earlier than the original date. The season will be still played with no live audience and the access on MPL Arena are restricted to only players, casters, and staff for safety purposes, but the games are still to be livestreamed on the official social media platforms via Facebook Gaming, YouTube, and on TikTok.[4]
Roster Changes[]
The following are the confirmed roster changes for the season as of January 12, 2022.
Blacklist International[]
- Two-time MPL-PH champions and M3 World Champions Johnmar "OhMyV33NUS" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario will not be playing for this season, owing to their 'much-needed break'. The duo of Blacklist International has steered the Blacklist team to three championships and two first runner-up finishes in 2021 MLBB season in which two championships came from the wins of MPL Season 7 and Season 8, and the third came from the MLBB M3 World Championship, in which they have swept the Grand Finals against compatriot ONIC Philippines, 4 games to 0, to secure the back-to-back world championships for the Philippines.[5]
Bren Esports[]
- CJ "Ribo" Ribo, will not be playing for this season, as announced in his Facebook account that he will rest for the said season. Ribo has won several MLBB tournaments in both local and international levels, including a gold medal which he won during the MLBB tournament of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games representing Team Philippines.[6]
ECHO Philippines[]
- The team unveiled its roster for this season last December 21, 2021, featuring some of what is considered by many as a 'super team' in key acquisitions of M2 World Champion and Finals MVP Karl Gabriel 'KarlTzy' Nepomuceno which he departed from his former team in Bren Esports, along with former member of Nexplay EVOS Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera and former EXP laner of TNC Pro Team, Frediemar '3MarTzy' Serafico. Also returning for the team is Ashley Marco "Killuash" Cruz, who took a break from the competitive scene last season.[7]
- The team also retained the services of holdovers from last season in Christian "Rafflesia" Fajura, Jaymark "Hadess" Lazaro, Jankurt "KurtTzy" Matira, Aaron "AaronQT" Lim, Benedict "BennyQT" Gonzales, and Rion "RK3" Kudo.[7]
Regular season[]
The regular season shall begin on February 18, 2022. The regular season will still be a double round-robin format, with each team playing against their opponents twice, for a total of 14 games being played per team. A total of three group stage points may be earned in a single regular season match, based on the following:[8]
- If the match is decided by a 2–0 score, the winner shall earn 3 group stage points, while the loser earns 0 group stage points.
- If the match is decided by a 2–1 score, the winner shall earn 2 group stage points, while the loser earns 1 group stage point.
The top two teams of the standings will gain outright qualification to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, while the next four teams qualify for the play-ins.[8]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | MF | MA | MD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ECHO Philippines [1]  0
|
11 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 25 |
| 2 | RSG Philippines  1
|
10 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 21 |
| 3 | TNC Pro Team - ML  1
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 21 |
| 4 | Nexplay EVOS [2] 1
|
11 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 16 |
| 5 | ONIC Philippines 1
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 15 |
| 6 | Blacklist International 0
|
11 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 11 |
| 7 | Smart Omega 0
|
10 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 9 |
| 8 | Bren Esports 0
|
11 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 17 | −11 | 8 |
Rules for classification: Head-to-head record, amount of winning games, match length of victories, tiebreaker game
Notes[]
- 1.^ Due to the absence of Nexplay EVOS during Week 4 Day 3, Nexplay was ultimately disqualified, prescribed by the MPL-Philippines rule book (7.3.4.2.8)[9] and provided ECHO Philippines, Nexplay EVOS' supposed challenger, was given the win, by default.
Playoffs[]
For this season, the league has announced a new format for the season. While six teams are still to contend for the playoffs, the top two teams after the regular season will still get an outright Upper Bracket Semifinal slots, however, the matchups for the play-in rounds will be decided by the first and third-seeded teams.[10]
Similar to last season, all matches will still follow a best-of-five format except for the Grand Finals, which will be a best-of-seven series.
Bracket[]
| Play-ins | Bracket Semifinals | Bracket Finals | Grand Finals | |||||||||||
| Upper Bracket | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Play-in 1 winner | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 3 / Rank 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Upper Bracket | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 5 / Rank 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Upper Bracket | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Play-in 2 winner | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 3 / Rank 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Rank 5 / Rank 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Lower Bracket | ||||||||||||||
| Lower Bracket | ||||||||||||||
Play-ins[]
Play-ins are a best-of-5 format, winner advances to the Upper Bracket Semifinals while the losers are eliminated.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank 3 / Rank 4
|
Rank 5 / Rank 6 | ||||||
Rank 3 / Rank 4
|
Rank 5 / Rank 6 |
Upper Bracket Semifinals[]
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank 1
|
Play-in 2 winner | ||||||
Rank 2
|
Play-in 1 winner |
Lower Bracket Semifinals[]
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Upper Bracket SF1 loser
|
Upper Bracket SF2 loser |
Upper Bracket Finals[]
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Upper Bracket SF1 winner
|
Upper Bracket SF2 winner |
Lower Bracket Finals[]
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Upper Bracket Finals loser
|
Lower Bracket Semis winner |
Grand Finals[]
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Upper Bracket Finals winner
|
Lower Bracket Finals winner |
Awards[]
Regular Season Weekly MVPs[]
Every Week, a player from the teams that had faced off during one week of the season is awarded as the Regular Season's Weekly MVP. This tradition has been part of the achievements sections of MPL Philippines since Season 7.[11]
| Week | Player | Team | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SDZYZ | TNC Pro Team | [11] |
| 2 | EMANN | RSG Philippines | [12] |
| 3 | KurtTzy | ECHO Philippines | [13] |
| 4 | Hatred | ONIC Philippines | [14] |
| 5 | Joy Boy | Bren Esports |
References[]
- ^ Pineda, Carlos (7 January 2022). "MPL-PH Season 9 will commence on February 18". Spin.ph. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Micaller, Bea (7 January 2022). "MPL PH looking to hold games offline in S9, but no live audience for now". GMA News Online. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Magallon, Reynald (11 February 2022). "MPL Philippines gets green light to hold offline matches". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ Magallon, Reynald (14 February 2022). "MPL PH S9 offline games moved to earlier date". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ Coloma, Angela (9 January 2022). "Blacklist duo V33wise to skip MPL Season 9". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Magallon, Reynald (3 January 2022). "Ribo out in S9 as MLBB 'GOAT' takes break from pro scene". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ a b Magallon, Reynald (21 December 2021). "ECHO forms strong team for MPL PH Season 9". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Rules of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (Philippines)". MPL. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ MPL Philippines. "Match Process of MPL-PH". ph-mpl.com.
- ^ Elona, Jules (24 January 2022). "MPL PH Season 9 announces a surprising new playoffs rule | ONE Esports". One Esports. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ a b Vistek. "Achievements - Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines". MPL Philippines Season 9. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ "MPL Philippines - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
- ^ "MPL Philippines - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
- ^ "MPL Philippines - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
- Esports competitions in the Philippines