Owning the first pick in the inaugural PBA Esports Bakbakan, Ginebra picked up one of the high profile draftees in the pool in Setsuna “Akosi Dogie” Ignacio while Talk N Text picked up Smart Omega explaner Billy “Z4pnu” Alfonso with the second pick.
(C) PBA Images
Dogie and Z4pnu, two of the pillars of the Mobile Legends professional scene in the country, led the roster of Mobile Legends Bang Bang social media personalities who participated in the event organized by Dark League Studios in partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association.
Celebrity turned social media influencer Eric “Eruption” Tai was picked 3rd by Magnolia while Terrafirma took female streamer Lhea “Lea B” Bernardino with the 4th pick.
One of the most popular in the pool with 13 million Facebook followers, Edgar “Choox TV” Dumali, was taken 5th by Blackwater.
Also entering the draft were former Blacklist International roamer Reniel “HONDA BEAST” Enciso (Phoenix), Ariane Mae “Yuri Gaming” Baluyot (Northport), former MLBB World Champion Coco Sampang (Meralco), Okata (Rain or Shine), former MPL player Raven “L3bron” Alonzo (Converge), and Elyson “Ghost Wrecker” Calanza (San Miguel).
The draft also featured a round of 12 selected players from Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Adamson University, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle University, University of Sto Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines – Diliman.
Each team also drafted three fans in the fourth round to complete their rosters. There were almost 4,000 fans who applied for this season’s PBA Esports Bakbakan but only 70 hopefuls qualified for the draft.
Undrafted hopefuls will still have a chance to join the league in Season 2.
