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MANILA - Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario and Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna have made headlines in recent days, notably after being snubbed by Mobile Legends: Bang Bang's "The Greatest Player" awards, the international MLBB's iteration of a hall of fame.

Tier One and Blacklist International CEO Tryke Gutierrez posted a video explaining the matter, while confirming that the duo were snubbed after sponsoring Rivalry, a betting website.

A short history of Rivalry and its relationship with MLBB players and personalities

V33wise is the second pair of MLBB personalities to be featured under Rivalry's umbrella, preceding Setsuna "AkoSiDogie" Ignacio.

While betting is commonplace in other esports titles, Moonton is said to have put a crackdown against personalities who have partnered with betting sites.

Blacklist International also has an existing partnership with Rivalry, but for its all-star Dota 2 team.

October 2, 2023 - Moonton Games announces that it was going to post nominees for "The Greatest 10 Gamers," the international MLBB esports scene's iteration of a hall of fame.

October 4, 2023 - Two days later, the V33wise tandem announced they were partnering with Rivalry.

October 4 to October 23 - Moonton Games announces nominees for Indonesia, Myanmar, North America, Singapore, Turkey, Middle East, and EECA

Around October 22-23 - Based on V33wise's podcast aired November 5, they were briefed by someone from MPL PH that they were going to be excluded on the list.

October 27 - Moonton Games publishes rules and regulations indicating that nominees are "not involved in any illegal activities" which includes promotion or soliciting.

October 28 - Moonton Games announces nominees for MPL Philippines -- BennyQT, Hadji, Edward, Ribo, Pheww, KarlTzy are on the list. Blacklist's V33wise, along with M3 MVP Oheb are snubbed.

The same date, MLBB posts an M5 promotional video where Blacklist's M3 World Championship run was notably excluded. V33wise are in the M3 lineup.

November 5 - Netizens point out that Ace is partnered with 1X Bet.

November 6 - Tryke Gutierrez points out that they were briefed beforehand that V33wise was snubbed.

"The video was technically made daw for the greatest players. For the greatest players in particular, they gave us a heads up na hindi talaga nila i-involve yung V33Wise because of the promotional activities that they're doing with the brands that they're not comfortable with," Gutierrez said.

Midnight on November 7 - V33wise posted their podcast breaking their silence on the situation.

"Nagmessage sakin si Boss Tryke, pangalawa nag-message. I'm not sure kung ano position ang pinaka-head ng MPL PH na dinirect na ako na hindi kayo kasali sa greatest nominees kasi part kayo ng Rivalry. Ito na 'yon, ang pinakachinika, walang sinabing reason o side. Ang pinaka-chinika is hindi kasama kasi part kayo ng Rivalry. Period," OhMyV33nus said.

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Both V33wise said they were expecting the consequences upon signing with Rivalry -- but did not expect them to be this "drastic."

"Napag-usapan namin na may consequences na magagalit si Moonton. Expected namin pero hindi namin in-expect na ganoon ka-extent," OhMyV33nus said, while stressing that the podcast would be the last time they were speaking about the issue.

Wise adds: "At the end of the day wala ka namang choice at tsaka mindset kasi season 4 nagsimula kami ng ML. Okay lang kami, sa lahat ng hirap na pinagdaanan namin na pinursue namin lahat ng tournament parang gusto lang namin ma-recognize."

November 9 - Ace withdraws from "The Greatest Player" list, Moonton apologizes

"I didn’t know I am in the nominee list before the Mobile Legends Official Page announce with a post, I am really grateful for the recognition as well. But unfortunately I have decided to withdraw from the nominee list since I found out I don’t match one of the criteria from the nominee rules and due to my health issue," Ace said.

Moonton has responded to Ace's decision, apologizing for the "lack of investigation" which has inconvenienced both fans and players.

"Many misunderstandings have arisen due to the lack of investigation and negligence in operations, which has inconvenienced the fans and players, and we would like to apologize for this. We seek your understanding of ACE's withdrawal. Please continue to support the other nominees based on their merit, contributions, and positive societal influence," MLBB Esports said on its Facebook page.