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Mobile Legends: What to expect in MPL Season 8’s opening weekend

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Angela Coloma, ABS-CBN News

MANILA—The Philippine leg of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang - Professional League will kick off its 8th season with 8 games over the weekend, in a much-awaited shift to a franchise-based format. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/14/21/franchise-based-mobile-legends-professional-league-ph">Mobile Legends: MPL-PH shifts to &#x27;franchise-based&#x27; setup ahead of Season 8</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/21/21/look-schedule-for-mpl-season-8">Mobile Legends: MPL Season 8 to kick off on August 27</a></li></ul>Season 8, which will determine who will represent the Philippines in the M3 World Championship this December, will kick off with two matches on its first day, starting with what seems to be a reloaded version of El Clasico match as Onic PH squares off with Echo PH, a rebranded form of Aura PH. TNC’s MPL team, parading MPL Season 7 &quot;super rookies&quot; Work Auster Force&#x27;s lineup, will debut versus defending champions Blacklist International, who are looking to boost their title defense with the addition of former Smart Omega player Salic &quot;Had Ji&quot; Imam. Day 2 of MPL’s opening week on August 28 will start with a match between Onic PH and Smart Omega. Smart Omega, which took in ML:BB Southeast Asia champs Execration’s entire ML squad, will be opening their campaign without MSC MVP Grant Duane &quot;Kelra&quot; Pillas, who was slapped with a two-week suspension and fines over homophobic and sexist comments thrown at MPL co-players in a livestream in recent weeks. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/16/21/esports-kelra-suspended-fined-over-offensive-remarks">Mobile Legends: Kelra suspended, fined over offensive remarks</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/19/21/esports-kelra-accepts-sanctions-on-offensive-remarks">Esports: Kelra apologizes anew, accepts sanctions on remarks vs V33wise, female ML players</a></li></ul>After their <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/29/21/mobile-legends-execration-rally-to-dethrone-bren-esports-in-mpl7" target="_blank">heartbreaking exit</a> in Season 7&#x27;s playoffs, reigning M2 world champions Bren Esports look to reclaim their throne in the local MPL scene with the entry of streamer-turned-pro player Raven &quot;L3bron&quot; Alonzo, opening their campaign crucial to their world title defense with a bout against Echo PH. Nexplay will start its MPL campaign under the EVOS banner for the first time against Blacklist International with some notable changes in its lineup, recruiting former Smart Omega support Jeniel &quot;YellyHaze&quot; Bata-anon, and with pro streamer and last year’s coach Setsuna &quot;Akosi Dogie&quot; Ignacio now part of the squad’s player roster. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/06/19/21/mobile-legends-sea-esports-giant-evos-partners-with-nexplay-in-groundbreaking-deal">Mobile Legends: SEA esports giant EVOS partners with Nexplay in ‘groundbreaking’ deal</a></li></ul>Steered by Sibol 2019 national team coach Brian &quot;Panda&quot; Lim and a squad parading a mix of new people and familiar faces in former Nexplay player Dexter “Exort” Martinez, former Onic player Christian “Iy4knu” Manaog, and former Smart Omega members EJ “Heath” Esperanza and Kenneth Jiane “Kenji” Villa, RSG PH look to start their Philippine campaign strong as they take on Bren Esports in August 29’s opening match. This will be followed by a match between Nexplay and TNC, and a match between Omega Esports and Echo PH, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., respectively. Eight teams composed of a maximum 10 players each will play under a round-robin format, with the top 6 squads qualifying for the playoffs which is expected to run in late October. MPL finalists are expected to qualify for the M3 world championship, with the venue and additional tournament details yet to be announced. In a press release Thursday, Smart said it was partnering with MPL again, making its streams available on the telecommunication company&#x27;s Facebook page. &quot;As the official telco partner of the MPL-PH Season 8, Smart will enable fans to watch the action-packed MPL-PH Season 8 matches on Smart&#x27;s Facebook page. Fans can also expect exciting promos, skin giveaways, exclusive updates, and freebies,&quot; Smart said. Livestreaming of the games will also be available on ML:BB&#x27;s official Facebook and YouTube accounts. <div>RELATED VIDEO: </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pgnMjfit6eU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

MPL Philippines will kick off its 8th season with 8 games over the weekend, in a much-awaited shift to a franchise-based format.

Mobile Legends: What to expect in MPL Season 8’s opening weekend

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Mobile Legends: What to expect in MPL Season 8’s opening weekend

Angela Coloma,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 27, 2021 07:38 AM PHT

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