It wasn’t just Blacklist International vs. ECHO Philippines that got us tuning in to the first weekend of MPL Season 11.
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While some are already preparing for the start of the summer season, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang players and viewers are currently enjoying the start of something else, MPL Season 11. The weekend of February 17-19 saw the opening matches for the newest MLBB competitive season as eight teams battle it out for three months to claim a $150,00 prize pool, as well as represent the Philippines in the MLBB SEA Cup in June. The hype for Season 11 was already palpable thanks to exciting moves made pre-season, and its opening weekend met expectations, to say the least. Here are just some of the major moments that went down.
OPENING BATTLES
Before the start of the new season, one of the biggest stories people are following is reigning champion Blacklist International and their quest to defend their Season 10 crown. They were also coming into the competition looking for redemption against ECHO Philippines, the team who denied the Tier One group a second global championship as the Orcas won M4 last December. Also, gaming influencer Renejay made the switch from Nexplay EVOS to Blacklist for this season. The fact that the first game of the entire season was Blacklist vs. ECHO made for the tensest of sports moments.
In the end, it was ECHO who came out on top with a commanding 2-0 against Blacklist. The Orcas defeated their rivals in eleven minutes in match one. And while Blacklist gave a strong fight in match two, it wasn’t enough to stop ECHO from breaking the code once more. Meanwhile, that same day, Renejay’s old team, Nexplay EVOS, swamped TNC 2-0. The following day, ECHO continued their sweep with a 2-0 score against Bren Esports. Redemption, though, was at hand for Blacklist International when they made up for their loss to ECHO with a 2-0 win against TNC. Finally, ONIC PH bested Smart Omega with a score of 2-1.
On the final day of the opening weekend, RSG Slate PH made a splash, both in terms of debuting their latest recruit, former Nexplay player H2wo, and also lapping ONIC PH to a score of 2-0. The final match of the day went to Smart Omega and Bren Esports as the latter cleaned up with a 2-0 win.
THE STAGE IS SET
Overall, ECHO Philippines ended weekend one with the most points at six to claim the top of the leader boards. Nexplay, RSG, Blacklist, and Bren all tie with three points. Onic has two points, Omega has one, and TNC sits at the bottom with zero points. Of course, this is just the start of Season 11 so things can change. But already, the pro leagues delivered thrilling games with a little tension on the side. New matches will take place every weekend until April.
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