Aspiring Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Sibol players need to survive a two-phase qualifier set by the Philippine Esports Organization if they wish to represent the country in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam in May.
PeSO Secretary General and Executive Director Joebert Yu revealed to Manila Bulletin that unlike in the 2019 edition of the regional games where players were handpicked, the team who will top the Team Sibol National Tournament Selection will get the chance to don the national tri-colors in the biennial meet.
PeSo has already opened the registration for interested MLBB teams up until Jan. 8 Registered teams will then battle each other in the Phase 1 of the tournament with the top teams advancing to the Phase 2.
In Phase 2, PeSO eyes to give direct invites to four Mobile Legends teams which will be selected based on its past achievements.
The same process will be done for the selection of the Sibol teams for League of Legends Wild Rift and Crossfire. The number of direct invites and tournament formats however will vary depending on the esports title.
“Regarding yung Team Sibol National Tournament selection, we will be having two phases for each esports title. So the first phase is open registration so anyone can join,” said Yu.
“Sa phase 2, we will be inviting some teams on the esport titles to be part of phase 2. These invited teams are based on merits or achievements they’ve done in the past on those respective esport titles,” he explained.
Although PeSO has yet to decide on which teams will get the invite, among possible choices are M3 champion Blacklist International and runner-up Onic Philippines. Last year’s Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup Champions Omega Esports (then-Execration team) should also be in consideration.
In fact, Blacklist International head coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza is already searching for stand-ins for Kiel “Oheb” Soriano and Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap who were barred from the competition since the organizing committee only allows players that are 18 years old and above.
PeSO eyes to stage the qualifier late in January for the first phase and early February for the second phase.