MPL PH Season 10 hails community, players, coaches

MANILA, Philippines — The Mobile Legends: Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) will begin its landmark 10th season on August 12 with fan rewards, a return to a fully offline tournament, and a celebration of talent with the MPL PH Hall of Legends.

The previous season saw the league start offline events after its third week and welcome a live audience during the playoffs, with RSG Philippines winning the title after defeating Smart Omega.

On its 10th edition, MPL PH's theme "LAKAS NA10 TO" celebrates the local league's success as one of the world's largest and most dominant Mobile Legends: Bang Bang player base. This has been justified with the Philippines’ recent feats in Mobile Legends international tournaments: three Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) titles, two Southeast Asian Games Gold Medals, and two M World Championship trophies.

That is why through the MPL PH Hall of Legends, the league will pay tribute to its players who have achieved greatness in the past 10 seasons. Nominated by stakeholders, 10 players from Seasons 1 to 10 may be nominated as the first inductees to the Hall, cementing the different milestones in league history.

Besides the players, MPL PH will also be rewarding fans with its "10 Weeks of Prizes", with diamonds, tournament chests, physical prizes and many more up for grabs.

Roster shakeup

Even before the conclusion of MSC 2022, speculations about roster changes had been circulating. The biggest shake-up of them all was the departure of ONIC Philippines' coach and most of its main roster.

Coach Denver “Yeb” Miranda and jungler Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol have flown to Indonesia and are now part of sister team ONIC Esports. Former goldlaner Mark Christian "Markyyyyy" Capacio will also make his appearance in MPL Indonesia as a member of Bigetron Alpha while former mid-laner Jaylord “Hatred” Gonzales is the first Filipino import in Malaysia as he joins Team SMG. Though no official announcements have been made, Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy and Gerald “Dlar” Trinchera are also rumored to be making their appearances in MPL Indonesia next season after joining teams Geek Fam and EVOS Legends, respectively.

ONIC Philippines' new roster is composed of popular streamer Edgar "ChooxTv" Dumali, former Cignal-Ultra player Jefferdson “Kekedot” Mogol and former TNC player Landher “Der” San Gabriel, and rookies Frince “Frinceee” Miguel, Kenneth “Netskie” Barro, Stephen “Sensui” Castillo and Ralph “Rapidoot” Andrales. Kevin “Bluffzy” Reyes. Jeffrey “Jeff” Manforte, former assistant coach, will now be on the coaching helm.

Dubbed as the superteam last season, ECHO lost coach Michael Angelo “Arcadia” Bocado, who will also be seen in MPL Indonesia as the coach of defending champions RRQ Hoshi. Also departing the team are Christian “Rafflesia” Fajura, Jaymark “Hadess” Lazaro, Aaron “Aaronqt” Lim, Rion “Rk3” Kudo, Ashley Marco “Killuash” Cruz. New coach Archie “Tictac” Reyes will be joined by assistant coach turned player Jaypee “Jaypee” Dela Cruz, former Nexplay Evos player Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya, former Smart Omega player Jhonville “Outplayed” Villar, and rookies Justin “Zaida” Palma and Alston “Sanji” Pabico.

Nexplay EVOS saw departures of a handful of players like Jeff “S4gitnu” Subang, Michael “MP The King” Endino, Rainiel “URESHIII” Logronio, Jhonwin “Hesa” Vergara and Kenneth “CADENZA” Castro, as well as Coach John Michael “Zico” Dizon. Filling their spots are James “Jeymz” Gloria, Lance “LanceCy” Cunanan, and Ken Louie “Kzen” Piler. Former ONIC Philippines' Mico “Micophobia” Quitlong completes the roster while former ECHO strategic coach Pao Villanueva steps in as new head coach.

Meanwhile, Bren Esports released Allen “Lusty” Castromayor Jr. and Mujahid “Lord Malikk” Malik, and acquired rookies Michael “KyleTzy” Sayson from Alpha Esports Pro and Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo from SV Empire.

For its part, RSG Philippines relegated Christian “Iy4knu” Manaog and EJ “Heath” Esperanza to its transfer list while streamer Elyson “Wrecker” Caranza was absent from the defending champion's roster. Instead, former Z4 Esports John “1RRAD” Tuazon and former Euphoria Esports John “Perkz” Sumawan will make-up RSG Philippine's title defense campaign.

Smart Omega's team also remained intact despite speculations that captain Patrick “E2MAX” Caidic would be taking a break this season. They do have one new addition — Deomark “Mikko” Tabangay from the Omega Academy program.

Hoping to repeat their performance last season, TNC Pro Team's roster remained intact with only the departure of Coach Vrendon "V" Lin. Replacing him is Coach 413.

Hoping to retain their spot as the top MLBB team in the country, Blacklist International will see the return of V33Wise duo after Jonmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario decided to take a break last season but going on to win a gold medal in the 31st Southeast Asian Games.

The 10th MPL PH season will kick off with a rematch of the previous season's grand finals: RSG Philippines versus Smart Omega. Blacklist International will face Nexplay EVOS on August 12.