By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
Filipino nominees for the Ten Greatest Players were announced on October 28, and a couple of top-flight players were mysteriously left off the list.
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang community, especially Blacklist International fans, were left puzzled as both Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario, the heart and soul of the Tier One-backed squad that won the M3 World Championship, missed the cut.
On Monday afternoon, through a TikTok video, Blacklist International co-owner Tryke Guttierez finally confirmed reports that MOONTON opted not to include the star duo as nominees due to their ties with ‘promotional activities.’
“For the greatest players in particular, they actually gave us a heads up na hindi talaga nila i-involve ang V33Wise because of the promotional activities that they are doing,” said Guttierez.
“Well, the brands that they are not comfortable with. I’m not gonna mention it in particular pero yun nga, basically yun yung naging usapan with that and we respected it because that was their decision.”
(c) MPL PH
It was announced on October 4 that the V33Wise duo, who skipped the recently-concluded MPL Philippines Season 12, partnered with the esports betting platform Rivalry.
Before the announcement of the Ten Greatest Players nominees, MOONTON also released selection criteria, with number 5 stating that players should ‘not be involved in any illegal activities, including promotion or soliciting.’
“Yung nakikita namin sa social media, kung paano i-handle ni Rivalry yung mga endorsers nila, yung mga influencers nila and yung image ng Rivalry talagang sabi ko pasok ‘to sa gusto naming gawin ni Wise. Pasok sa gusto naming i-promote,” OhMyV33nus explained.
According to V33Wise, one of the reasons they decided to pursue the partnership with Rivalry is because they wanted to secure their future.
“Siguro kasi ano, marami kaming pangarap ni Wise and malaki yung pangarap namin. Marami pa kaming mga business na gustong ituloy, maraming business kami na gustong pasukin,” OhMyV33NUS revealed during an interview posted on the betting site’s Facebook page.
“Yung issue noon na hindi pang habang buhay yung ML (Mobile Legends), tapos yung may future secured ganon. Parang doon na-open yung utak namin na ‘Tama naman sila. Hindi pang habang buhay ang ML,’” Wise followed up.
Among the Filipino nominees are ECHO stars Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales, and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera, Blacklist International’s Edward “Edward” Dapadap and Salic “Hadji” Imam, Omega Esports’ CJ “Ribo” Ribo, Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel of AP Bren, and ONIC Esports’ Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol.
