Mobile Legends - MPL Philippines

MPL Philippines launched as one of the first Professional leagues in the entire world, the other being MPL Indonesia. MPL Philippines started with teams qualifying through regional tournaments and others being invited to compete. The first season of MPL Philippines featured ten different teams, all qualifying through three different qualifiers organized by Moonton and Mineski Philippines. The first season of MPL Philippines ran from May to July of 2018 where the top two teams would qualify for the second edition of the in Indonesia. Aether Main, under the stewardship of Setsuna "AkoSi Dogie" Ignacio as its team manager and owner, were crowned inaugural champions of MPL Philippines, defeating Digital Devils Pro in the Grand Finals in a 3–0 sweep. "DD", which the team was known for, had the services of one of the biggest internet personalities for Mobile Legends in the country, Billy "Z4pnu" Alfonso.

Both Aether Main and Digital Devils Pro qualified for the second edition of the MSC tournament in Indonesia. This was the first tournament that was domestically renowned in the country due to the Philippines' utter dominance in the competition. An all-out Filipino finals was staged in the tournament which sealed the MSC title into the Philippines' possession. Aether Main were crowned as the second MSC Cup champions after defeating DD in another 3–0 sweep. Aether Main 2–1 Aerowolf Roxy while Digital Devils Pro 2–0 RRQ Hoshi, two indonesian organizations.

The second season of MPL Philippines was held from October 2018 to January 2019 and was competed by ten different teams. Several teams underwent continual rebranding efforts while others qualified through the qualifiers. The championship roster of Aether Main was acquired by Bernard Chong, the CEO of Bren Esports while a new roster fueled Aether Main whom qualified from the third qualifying tournament. Aether Main's roster played under the name "Aether Main" during the MSC 2018 competition despite being under the Bren Esports organization. Cignal Ultra won the second iteration of MPL Philippines after defeating Bren Esports and the then-outgoing championship roster in the Finals 3 games to 1. At the time, the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championships were not held until the fourth season of MPL Philippines.

The third season of MPL Philippines showcased six teams that qualified from the previous season's playoffs while four teams qualifying through a closed qualifier. Certain organizations including EVOS Esports entered the MLBB Philippines scene, entering the third season by acquiring the roster of SxC Imbalance who finished fourth in the playoffs of the previous season. The third season showcased the third-consecutive single round robin tournament format with Bren Esports for the second-consecutive season topping the regular season table with an 8–1; 17–7 record. Bren Esports would seemingly fall to the qualifier team ArkAngel who has the services of outgoing RSG Philippines head coach Brian "Coach Panda" Chang-rok as the head coach.

The third season of the Southeast Asian Cup was held in the Philippines for the first time but Bren Esports, all though managing to qualify after a 2–0 victory over Team Resolution, lost to the Vietnamese-squad Overclockers 2–0. Meanwhile, ArkAngel felt a similar fate when the team got swept by Indonesian team Louvre Esports. MSC 2019 is the only competition thus far to not showcase a Filipino team in an international Grand Finals.

The fourth season of MPL Philippines saw the entry of the Indonesian champions ONIC Esports to the Philippines with ONIC Philippines starting to compete during this season. Teams such as Cignal Ultra, Bren Esports, EVOS Esports PH, SGD Omega, Execration, Ownage and defending champions ArkAngel returned as the playoff qualifiers meanwhile ONIC Philippines, Geek Fam Philippines, and SunSparks qualified through the closed qualifier tournament. Both qualifier teams in ONIC Philippines and SunSparks topped the regular season board with a tied 8-1 record. Both teams faced off against each other in the Grand Finals and the synonymous "Isang One Hit Nalang" line trended due to the low HP levels of SunSparks' base which can be destroyed with just one hit to give ONIC Philippines the championship. However, due to a cannon minion push at the top lane, the series was tied 2 games a piece with SunSparks ultimately winning the Season 4 title.

Both SunSparks and ONIC Philippines represented the Philippines in the first MLBB M1 World Championships which saw many Southeast and East Asian countries participating in the annual event. However, both teams would find themselves in timely departures from the world championship where ONIC Philippines got dropped in the Group Stage and SunSparks not breaking into the Top 4. This is the only time that a Filipino team has not appeared nor placed in a Top 4 standings in the world championships.

In 2020, the Covid-19 Pandemic made in-person meetups, events and tournaments difficult due to the continuous declaration of lockdowns in the Philippines. MPL Philippines' fifth season transitioned into an online tournament with many of the teams remaining in their respective boot camps. Another ten set of teams competed in MPL Philippines Season 5 including the entry of Blacklist International and the qualification of BSB, ULVL, and STI e-Olympians. Both SunSparks and Bren Esports had equally the best record in the tournament with a 8–1 record to cap the regular season off. However, it was ONIC Philippines who won the Lower Bracket Finals that qualified them for the Grand Finals. Initially, both SunSparks and ONIC Philippines would qualify for MSC 2020, but the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. SunSparks became the first back-to-back champions of MPL Philippines, defeating ONIC Philippines 3 games to 1.

The sixth season of MPL Philippines featured a different set of ten teams that were divided into two groups of five, beginning the first double-round robin tournament in MPL Philippines history. Teams such as ULVL, STI e-Olympians and Geek Fam Philippines were either eliminated from contention or forfeited their slot. SunSparks' roster was acquired by AURA Esports which rebranded the team to Aura Philippines. Bren Esports had the best record in the regular season with a 12-1 match record and a 24-4 game record. Bren breezed through the playoffs, sweeping both Nexplay Solid and ONIC Philippines in their way to the Grand Finals and qualifying for the M2 World Championships. In the finals, Bren secured its first title in MPL Philippines' history after defeating Smart Omega 4-2. Both Bren Esports and Smart Omega would make their first international appearance at the M2 World Championships in Singapore. All though this tournament was to be held in an in-person event at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, the tournament remains held online. Bren Esports became the second world champions for MLBB after defeating Myanmar's representatives Burmese Ghouls in the Grand Finals after going down 3 games to 2, winning two-straight to bring the Philippines its first of three world titles.

Blacklist International would dominate MPL Philippines Season 7, winning 12 games and surpassing Bren Esports' previous season record of 24-4 to a 25-7 game record. Blacklist International fended a near-perfect comeback by the defending world champions Bren Esports and denied Aura Philippines (formerly SunSparks roster) to qualify for MSC 2021. Blacklist International would face Execration in the Grand Finals which looked to be as a David vs. Goliath situation. Execration finished as the third seed for Group B, having a three-way tie with Smart Omega and Nexplay Solid, however, Execration made an arduous crawl to the Grand Finals, going three-straight Game 5 victories against ONIC Philippines, Smart Omega and Bren Esports, in that order. They swept Aura Philippines to clinch the second MSC slot for the Philippines. Initially, Blacklist International fell to a 3–1 deficit due to unexpected roster picks and mishaps that prevented them from performing at their max level, even suffering an 11-minute loss to Execration in Game 2. However, Blacklist International rallied to win three-straight games and became the Season 7 champions, the first of three MPL titles for the organization and the first title for the dubbed "Royal Duo" of Johnmar "" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario.

Both Blacklist International and Execration qualified for MSC 2021 as the two representatives of the Philippines following its reintroduction after its previous iteration was abruptly cancelled. Similarly to 2018, MSC 2021 showcased another all Filipino vs. Filipino Grand Finals and it was the last one of its likes in MSC with the proceeding tournament results being Philippines vs. Indonesia. Execration would get its revenge against Blacklist International and managed to finish the series 4 games to 1.

Blacklist International would become the first back-to-back champions of MPL Philippines since SunSparks. Blacklist International won 13 games and losing only 1 game during the regular season of MPL Philippines Season 8. Blacklist did suffer a 3–1 defeat in the Upper Bracket Semifinals to Smart Omega whom acquired the roster from Execration. Blacklist would return the favor in the Lower Bracket Finals following the return of Kiel "Oheb" Soriano from his abrupt suspension that gave them back-to-back Finals appearances. Blacklist International dismantled ONIC Philippines in the Grand Finals, winning the series 4 games to 1 that secured them their second-straight MPL title.

Both Blacklist International and ONIC Philippines were incoming favorites for the MLBB M3 World Championship to be held again in Singapore. Both teams started the group stage strong, qualifying both in the Upper Brackets of the tournament as the first seed for their respective groups. Blacklist International however, would suffer an shocking 3–2 defeat to North American team BloodThirstyKings, commonly referred to as "BTK" in the Upper Bracket First Round. ONIC Philippines meanwhile, steamed rolled through the upper brackets, both defeating RSG Singapore, RRQ Hoshi and the aforementioned BTK. Prior to the series match, the infamous "Weaker team" statement also became mainstream from the words of BTK star and Jungler Michael "MobaZane" Cosgun who he believed that ONIC Philippines would be a weaker team than Blacklist.

Blacklist International meanwhile, crawled through the Lower Bracket Stage, narrowly edging out an early elimination from ONIC Esports, sweeping Brazil's Keyd Stars and Indonesia's RRQ Hoshi, sweeping EVOS Singapore to matchup BTK in the Lower Bracket Finals. The team would drop Game 3 to make the series a four-game series but the team sent the BTK underdogs home 3 games to 1. Blacklist International won its first world championship title, sweeping ONIC Philippines whom had the services of stars Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol and Allen "Baloyskie" Baloy.

Blacklist International would suffer a dubbed "world championship curse" as the team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the organization joined MPL Philippines. Blacklist' gravely missed the star duo of the team in Villaluna and Del Rosario whom took a break from the competitive MLBB scene that saw the introduction of rookie Kent "Kevier" Lopez. RSG Philippines were able to clinch the opportunity to become a dominant force in the competitive MPL scene following their early playoff exit during the previous season. RSG Philippines had the services of Dylan "Light" Catipon whom joined the team during the offseason meanwhile ECHO Philippines formed a Big Three that sought the services of Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera and Frediemar "3MarTzy" Serafico from Bren Esports, Nexplay EVOS, and TNC Pro Team, respectively.

RSG Philippines won the MPL Philippines Season 9 title over Smart Omega who continued to run the championship Execration roster from MSC 2021. Both RSG Philippines and Smart Omega became the representatives for the Philippines in MSC 2022.

MSC 2022 became the first offline tournament held in Malaysia following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions but remained strict on protocols. MSC 2022 featured twelve teams from seven different countries including the very first MSC champions from Thailand IDONOSLEEP Esports. Both Philippine representatives qualified for the Upper Bracket but Smart Omega made their own arduous crawl in the lower-bracket following their 2–1 defeat to Malaysian champions TODAK in the Upper Bracket. Meanwhile, RSG Philippines fended Myanmar's Falcon Esports 2–1, and sweeping Malaysian runners-up Orange Esports 3–0. However, Indonesian champions RRQ Hoshi were able to deny a potential Philippines vs. Philippines Grand Finals after they defeated RSG Philippines and sent them down in the lower brackets against Smart Omega.

RSG Philippines would defeat Smart Omega in 5 games to qualify for the Grand Finals and they wreak havoc against the Indonesian champions, crippling all of their mid-to-late game leads to turn the tides in favor of the raiders. RSG Philippines swept RRQ Hoshi in the Grand Finals to bring the Philippines its unprecedented third MSC title. MSC 2022 was also known for the synonymous "PH Pause Meta" wherein fans from opposing teams accused Philippine representatives of using troubleshooting to their advantage.

Both Villaluna and Del Rosario returned for MPL Philippines Season 10 and ECHO Philippines signing Sanford "Sanford" Vinuya and Alston "Sanji" Pabico to form their own duo dubbed the "SanSan" duo. With minimal roster changes from juggernaut teams such as Blacklist, ECHO, RSG and Bren Esports, MPL Philippines Season 10 began the commemoration of the Greatest Players and Coaches of All-time, beginning the seasonal tradition of induction to the "MPL Philippines Hall of Legends".

The MPL Philippines Hall of Legends Inductees were announced prior to the Grand Finals match between Blacklist International, whom following their disappointing Season 9 finish, qualified for the M4 World Championship, and ECHO Philippines, qualifying for the first time since the SunSparks Era.

Blacklist International were able to squander the success of ECHO in the Grand Finals after going down 2 games to 1. Blacklist won three-straight games to win their third MPL championship trophy.

Blacklist International were among the favorites to win it all for the MLBB M4 World Championship as they were the defending champions coming into the tournament with certain power rankings clustering them with Indonesia's ONIC Esports as the best teams among all of the rest in the tournament.

Blacklist International and ECHO would become upper bracket teams and is the only region including Indonesia to have two of their representatives in the upper-brackets. Blacklist International quickly made moves and sent both RRQ Akira and RRQ Hoshi down to the lower brackets in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals in 4 and 5 games, respectively. Blacklist International would defeat ECHO in the Upper Bracket Finals to clinch its back-to-back Finals appearance in the M4 World Championships. ECHO would silence the Indonesian crowd after a 3–1 series victory over RRQ Hoshi. This series was particularly infamous for having a booing crowd during the introduction to ECHO Philippines and subsequent reactions from streamers and Indonesian pros.

The second Philippines vs. Philippines Grand Finals was between Blacklist and ECHO in a grand finals rematch of MPL Philippines Season 10. ECHO Philippines would return the favor to Blacklist, sweeping the team in the Grand Finals to win the M4 World Championships.

The 2023 MPL Philippines season featured the same eight teams that have been competing in MPL Philippines Season 8. During MPL Philippines Season 11, ECHO Philippines were able to secure its first MPL Philippines title in a historical trilogy series between ECHO and Blacklist International. The series was significant because this was the only title that the "ECHO Express" team won as a team prior to Cabrera's departure from the team. Both Blacklist and ECHO Philippines qualified for MSC 2023 as overwhelming favorites for the competition. However, ECHO suffered a surprising 3–0 sweep in the semifinals that saw ONIC Esports advancing to the Finals and ultimately winning the MSC 2023 title 4 games to 2 against Blacklist International.

Season 12 proved to be a similar story for Blacklist International after the Royal Duo decides to skip MPL Philippines Season 12. However, as underdogs for the Season 12 title, Blacklist International were able to secure their third-consecutive Grand Finals appearance after a 3–1 win over ECHO Philippines that secured them a spot in the MLBB M5 World Championship. AP Bren (formerly Bren Esports), were able to decode Blacklist International in the Grand Finals, winning the series 4 games to 1.

ONIC Esports were heavy favorites to win the M5 World Championship which showed the potential decline of the Philippines' dominance in the discipline. AP Bren were able to secure an Upper Bracket berth but fell to ONIC Esports that secured Indonesia's first grand finals appearance since the M1 World Championship. AP Bren would sweep Blacklist International in the lower bracket to secure their first World championship appearance since winning it in M2. AP Bren were able to secure the M5 World championship trophy and the fourth world title for the Philippines in a familiar 7-game series.

In the Season 13 playoffs, the announcement came that the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup would be rebranded to the "Mid Season Cup" that would invite not only Southeast Asian teams, but teams worldwide including the Americas and China. Moreover, the location of the Mid Season Cup would be in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, the first non-SEA tournament in MLBB history. This move is accredited to the huge investment of the Saudi Arabian government to the eSports world and with the Esports World Cup 2024 occurring in Riyadh as well, many international teams have taken into consideration partnering and outright acquiring rosters from local teams, specifically in the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore.

During the Season 13 playoffs, AP Bren and ECHO Philippines announced a partnership and acquisition from Team Falcons and Team Liquid, respectively. AP Bren played as "Falcons AP Bren" during the duration of the playoffs while ECHO Philippines rebranded for the third time to "Liquid ECHO". Also, ONIC Philippines have partnered with Fnatic alongside their Indonesian-sister team ONIC Esports and played as "Fnatic ONIC PH". Liquid ECHO swept the defending world champions Falcons AP Bren in the playoffs and won the Season 13 title for the second time.

Falcons AP Bren lost in seven games to Selangor Red Giants in the 2024 Mid Season Cup which became the second-consecutive MSC title that the Philippines did not win. Moreover, the team and organization Aurora Esports announced its entry in the MPL Philippines scene, replacing Minana EVOS to be one of the eight teams in MPL Philippines Season 14. During MPL Philippines Season 14, defending champions Team Liquid Philippines (formerly ECHO Philippines) was eliminated in a close 3-2 series against Aurora Gaming in the play-in tournament. They become the second defending champions since Blacklist International to fail to defend their title and the first defending champions since the introduction of the franchise-based system to lose in the play-in tournament to defend their MPL title.