MPL Philippines is set to implement two new rules in the upcoming Season 9, the league announced on Saturday, Jan. 22.
In a post on its official Facebook page, MPL PH bared new two sets of rules – one that would directly affect the playoff seeding and another that would give teams flexibility in its coaching ranks.
In the first rule, the first and third seeds will gain an advantage of deciding which teams will face each other in the first two games of the playoffs. Just like in Season 8, the top two squads will get an immediate second round upper bracket seat.
The first seed team will then decide the placement of the third and fourth ranked team in the first round, giving it a chance to pick which team will go in its own bracket.
The third seed team, meanwhile, will decide the placement of the fifth and sixth ranked team, giving no. 3 team the ability to choose which team it wants to face in the first round of the playoffs.
The second rule, meanwhile, tackles the substitution of coaches and assistant coaches during the draft. A total of three assistant coaches are allowed in every team, two of those can join in the actual draft of the game. The team can also decide to sub in the other assistant coach to any of the two who are present in the draft including the head coach.
The new rule allows the teams to fully utilize their coaching staff and take over if the head coach cannot join the team in the draft. Last season, Nexplay Evos coach John Michael “Zico” Dizon had to force himself to join the team despite getting hospitalized ahead of its regular season match against Omega Esports. In the old rule, only the head coach can join the team during the draft phase.