SIBOL is making sure that the Philippines will be well-represented in the upcoming 14th World Esports Championships in Bali, Indonesia this December.
To ensure this, SIBOL has decided to revert back to its previous selection process where the top teams from the qualifiers will participate in a three-day combine. There, the selection committee will select players from the pool regardless of their mother clubs.
“We’ve learned a lot during the last two SEA Games that we competed in,” SIBOL general manager Leo “Jab” Escutin told Tiebreaker Times.
“We feel that with the combine process, we have more flexibility to handle the different restrictions each host country will provide.”
In the 31st Southeast Asian Games, Vietnam imposed an age limit that only allowed players who are 18 years old and above to compete. This forced the MPL teams competing in the SIBOL qualifiers to sign up amateur standouts to fill the spots vacated by their underage players.
SIBOL made team-based selections in the previous qualifiers where the winner of the showcase will get the chance to represent the Philippines in the biennial meet.
Blacklist International, the eventual gold medalists of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang event, also did the same and picked up Dominic “Dominic” Soto, Howard “Owl” Gonzales, and Russel “Eyon” Usi to reinforce the core of Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna, Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario, Salic “Hadji” Imam, and Dexter “DEX STAR” Alaba.
Escutin, though, cleared that it was not one of the reasons why they decided to bring back the previous process. According to him, going back to the same method they used in the 2019 SEA Games is just a way to make sure that all bases are covered come the WE Championships.
“Not really,” said Escutin when asked if the organization is preventing the same situation from happening again. “We considered naman yun and allowed it during that time.”
Aside from the WE Championships-bound ML:BB team, the Dota 2, PUBG Mobile, and League of Legends teams that will compete in the 2022 Asian Games also underwent the same process.
“It also ensures that each individual for each role we select to represent the Philippines is the best of the best,” added the Bren Esports executive.
With the MPL Philippines Season 10 set to coincide with SIBOL’s preparation for the WE Championships, Escutin assured that the Philippine Esports Organization is in constant communication with Moonton and its teams regarding the players’ schedule.
“We are constantly in coordination with the franchise teams in MPL and Moonton so that the selected players from the combine will have enough time to train and not interfere with their own team’s initiatives during S10 of MPL.”
The qualifiers will be from July 8 to 10 while the combine will run from July 15 to 17.
