The much-awaited inaugural season of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Development League – Philippines (MDL-PH) finally launches from 15 February to 30 March 2023. With the theme “Ilabas ang Lakas,” the tournament aims to unleash the strength of Filipino MLBB players.
Through a fully online setup, the tournament will feature ten (10) teams, eight of which will come from MPL-PH franchised teams Blacklist International, BREN Esports, ECHO, Nexplay EVOS, Smart Omega, ONIC PH, RSG PH, TNC Pro Team. Gamelab and ZOL Esports will complete the list of teams to compete and take home the most-coveted title and the lion’s share of USD 20,000 or approximately PHP 1,080,000.
“With MDL-PH Season 1, we aim to give aspiring professional players a proving ground to showcase their strength in gaming and an opportunity to start their career in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The Philippines has a rich pool of undiscovered players and talents that show great potential to conquer the bigger stage,” says Tonyo Silva, MOONTON Games Senior Marketing Manager for esports.
A Tournament to Unleash Strengths
The Regular Season matches are scheduled to go live at 12 noon on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 2 pm on Thursdays. Day 1 starts on Wednesday, 15 February, via a best-of-three (BO3) match series between RSG Ignite and Gamelab. Playoffs are scheduled for 21-23 April 2023.
Both the Regular Season and Playoffs will run a best-of-three (BO3) series in a round robin format. Meanwhile, the grand finals will have a best-of-five (BO5) match series.
The league allows mid-season transfers of athletes and coaches starting 20 February at 10 am, until 27 March at 6 pm.
For athletes, a player may only be transferred once for the entire season. This means that a player that has been transferred to another league may not go back to their league of origin once the transfer has been finalized.
A player may only transfer from their MDL team to their MPL team up to three (3) times per season. However, MPL to MDL transfers are unlimited per season provided the roster will not go below the player minimum (5 starters and 1 substitute) and may not go beyond the maximum (5 starters and 5 substitutes).
A coach may also be transferred following the same process, but only two (2) times per season. The right to transfer coaches and players only applies to those with a parent MPL franchise team. Both Gamelab and ZOL Esports are not eligible.
A pool of competitive amateurs
Coming from an impressive run in the King’s League Tournament, Gamelab will parade members Mark Ferry “Dokmen” Nazar, Jermaine “Aizawa” Fernandez, Jan Bradford “Xboct” Amande, Masayuki “YukTzy” Fujita, and Vincent Bryan “Takenaga” Montilla. Coach John Carlo Argonza will lead the team.
MPL-PH Hall of Legends inductee and M2 World Champion Carlito “Dii Ribo” Ribo, Jr. will spearhead the Season 1 campaign of ZOL Esports as the team captain. The team will consist of Andrei “Folkmarr” Nablo, “Lei Archie “lei good kid” Labigan, John Clarence “Milktea” Cabaron, and Mario Chinoval “Raizel” Solana. Paul Lennon “Yesh” Valenzuela will lead the team as the head coach.
Blacklist Academy will welcome 31st SEA Games medalists Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales, Russel Aron “Eyon” Usi, and Kyle Dominic “Dominic” Soto in the pool. Rookies Ian Jakob “Rindo” Seguiran and Steve Nash “Steve” Calunuran will complete the main five and will be headed by Coach Lemuel Josh “Lembot” Lucban.
BREN x Euphoria Esports will parade five new rookies namely Joshua “Ryujin” Ramon, Christian “Heads” Morada, Jan Carl “Shizou” Valdez, Czedrick “Yoshinu” Romero, and Vincent “Venogo” Orogo. Coach Renaldo “Rivayne” Labjatawill lead the team.
Meanwhile, Jay Pee “Jaypee” Gonzalez will need to bring the championship mentality to Echo Proud teammates Jhonville “Outplayed” Villar, Jankurt Russel “KurtTzy” Seralvo, Mark Justine “Zaida” Sadia, and James “Jeymz” Diputado. Coach Limuel “Elle” Gallera will be their head coach.
Nexplay EVOS Tiger Cub will be fielded by MLBB streamer and amateur player Oscar “Sumpak” Romero, together with Lance Walter “LanceCy” Cunanan, Ken Louie “Kzen” Pile, Martin Kian “Sana” Viray, and John Marl “Lord JM” Sebastian.
ONIC Arsenals will be led by team captain Ralph “Dudut” Adrales, formerly known as “Rapidoot.” He will be joined by rookies Jem “Jem” Lanojan, Bert Patrick “Bert” Segovia, Marc Wayne “Waing” Ortiz, and Jerry Ian “Chovvy” Nicol. Jeffrey “Jseff” Manforte will be the head coach.
Former RSG Slate PH gold laner Clarense Jay “Kousei” Camilo now joins RSG Ignite as the team captain. The squad will also parade John “Perkz” Sumawan, John Darry “Irrad” Abarquez, Patrick “rTzy” Lim, and Hassan Alo “Evorts” Menhas. Coach Ivan Emmanuel “Navi” Gacho will lead the team.
TNC Neo will consist of Kharl Christian “Banting” Tan, Joshua “Mira” Albino, Keer Vince Jashley “K1d” Recto, Carl Michael “Crown” Pilapil, and Justin Ahron “xShocker” Guanga. Lenard Joseph “Cody” Merano will be the head coach.
Lastly, Smart Omega Neos welcomes two-time MPL Philippines champion Kiel VJ “Kielvj” Cruzem together with team captain Cesar Jefferson “Amethyst” Santos, Jeff “S4gitnu” Subang, Michael “MP the King” Endino, and fresh faces Christian “West” Mangabay and Lilflesh “Zone” Miranda. Doutlas Joseph “Imadeejay” Astibe will be the team’s head statistician.