MPL Philippines Season 9
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 were held last May 1, 2022 to give way for Team Sibol's participation in the biennial meet. After a nearly perfect playoff run with 10-1 win-loss record, RSG Philippines have secured their first MPL Championship after defeating Smart Omega  in five games in the best-of-seven grand finals, with Nathanael "Nathzz" Estrologo winning the Finals MVP award. This would become RSG Philippines' first championship title after its establishment in MPL PH S8. Venues and Competition Format. 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. 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. 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. Regular season . The regular season began on February 18, 2022, and ended on April 10, 2022. The regular season were 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: The top two teams of the standings gained outright qualification to the Upper Bracket Semifinals, while the next four teams qualified for the play-ins. With the new playoff rule being introduced this season, the first-placed and third -placed teams shall decide the match-ups for the play-ins. 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. 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. MPL Philippines Season  9 will be played and shown at SM Cinemas. Announced during Week 8, Day 3. On 12 April 2022, the seeding of the teams in the play-ins was announced with the Playoffs to begin on 28 April. On April 28, it was then revealed that all of the playoff games were held inside the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, with limited audience witnessing the games inside the venue. Play-ins. Play-ins are a best-of-5 format, winner advances to the Upper Bracket Semifinals while the losers are eliminated. Upper Bracket Semifinals. Date: April 29, 2022 Lower Bracket Semifinals . Date: April 30, 2022 Upper Bracket Finals. Date: April 30, 2022 Lower Bracket Finals. Date: May 1, 2022 Venue: SMX Convention Center, Pasay City Grand Finals. Grand Finalists will represent the Philippines on MSC 2022, and will be a best-of-seven championship series. Date & Time: May 1, 2022 – 7:00 pm RSG Philippines will be the first team to represent the Philippines in MSC 2022 after defeating TNC Pro Team - ML in 3 games during the Upper-Bracket Finals. Defending MSC Champions Smart Omega defeated TNC Pro Team in the Lower-Bracket Finals, appearing in their second Grand Finals since  MPL PH Season 6. Venue: SMX Convention Center, Pasay City 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.