Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines returning for Season 3

The Philippines' esports scene is alive and well, as Mineski has officially announced that the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL-PH) is returning for Season 3.

The announcement was made after the conclusion of MPL-PH Season 2, which saw the underdogs Cignal Ultra vanquishing tournament favorites BREN Esports and emerging the ultimate champion.

The professional league competition's Season 3 will pit the best teams from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao against each other in weekly Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tourneys. The prize pool is a staggering USD 100,000 (over PHP5M), a quarter of which will go to the champion.

MPL-PH Season 3 will feature Season 2's top six teams, namely Cignal Ultra, BREN Esports, Sterling Global Dragons (formerly Finesse Solid), Evos.PH Gaming (formerly SXC Imba), Aether Atlas (formerly Aether Main), and Execration.

In addition, the four new teams that blazed through the open and main qualifier stages will be joining Season 3. These teams are Finesse Phoenix, ArkAngel (formerly ArkAngel Wicked Minds), Arkangel Ownage, and No Limit.

For the entirety of MPL-PH Season 3's group stage, each of the aforementioned teams will receive a weekly salary. The best player to emerge from the tournament will be the recipient of the Regular season MVP title as well as a large cash bonus.

The road to glory

The MPL-PH Season 3 regular season begins this March 23, 2019 and will continue up to May 5, 2019. The furious battles will culminate in the Grand Finals, whose date and venue have yet to be revealed.

Furthermore, the Grand Finals' best two teams will have the opportunity to represent the Philippines on the international stage as they advance to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2019 (MSC-2019). While this huge event will be held in the Philippines, it will feature the best teams from Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and of course, the Philippines.

"The Philippines has the second biggest users of Mobile Legends. This is why we started MPL here in the Philippines," said Mr. Jingjei Lin, esports Manager for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moontoon. "I’m proud that we will be having the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup in Manila!"

"This season, we are going to be more intimate and we want to see the struggle and victories of the players from their point-of-view," said Season 3 Project Manager Mr. Jhudiel Lopez. "We want to give people good stories. I think Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a good avenue for the esports experience since a lot of people are playing it."

Serving as the league's official Legend and Epic sponsors are Smart and Game.ly respectively. Dxracer and HyperX are also lending their support to make Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines Season 3 possible.

MPL-PH Season 3's official live streaming platform, Facebook Gaming, will stream the entirety of the league live. — LA, GMA News

For more information, visit the official "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang" Facebook page.