THE WAR IS ON
MPL Season 13 features new timeslot, format
David ‘Flap’ Canon of AP Bren, Karl ‘KarlTzy’ Nepomuceno of ECHO, John Paul ‘H2wo’ Salonga of Omega Esports and Grant Duane ‘Kelra’ Pillas of ONIC Philippines are determined to make their presence felt in Season 13 of the MPL Philippines starting this Friday. | PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MPL
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton Games has officially announced the commencement of Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 13 this Friday at the Shooting Gallery Studios in Makati City.
The most-watched Esports title in the country, Season 13 will have all of its matches start at 4 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as franchise teams vie for a slot at the Mobile Legends Mid Season Cup 2024 in Saudi Arabia later this year.
"MPL Philippines Season 13 will serve as the arena for the Philippine teams to once again prove their dominance in the world of MLBB Esports," MOONTON Games Philippines Esports head Bai Zhou Ning said.
"This season, we are challenged to recognize what winning is truly all about and uncover the various versions of victory for each member of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang community."
The stakes will be higher than ever in the upcoming MPL because the top two teams of the season will qualify for the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup, which brandishes the highest prize pool yet in Mobile Legends Esports history with $3 million — or around P167.6 million.
The defending champion and the lone two-time M-Series world champion in history AP Bren, will look to assert its dominance anew in Season 13 with the addition of its new technical coach Robert Alexis "Trebor" Sanchez formerly ECHO.
MPL PH Season 12 runner-up Blacklist International, meanwhile, will have to get through the season again without the iconic duo of Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" del Rosario.
Worse, the three-time MPL PH champion and M3 Mobile Legends world champion Blacklist International also lost one of its key players last season in Renejay "RENEJAY" Barcase.
The regular season of the MPL PH Season 13 will run for seven weeks with six teams making it to the Playoffs. Once in the second stage of the tournament, teams will be met with a new "Gauntlet" format, a new bracket system in the Playoffs.
Aside from that, MPL will launch various online and on-ground activities for this season, including a five-part video series that aims to share tips and tricks for casual Mobile Legends: Bang Bang players to score victories in-game.