The MPL Philippines Season 11 Grand Finals came to a thrilling end as ECHO secured a resounding 4:0 victory over defending champions Blacklist International in a best-of-seven (Bo7) series.
The champs take home the lion’s share of the $150,000 prize pool and a ticket to the upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2023, taking place in Phnom Penh between June 10 to 18, 2023.
The tournament welcomed over 5,000 offline spectators and onlookers, while a peak-concurrent viewership of over 900,000 viewers watched online, beating last season’s peak views of 800,000, according to analytics partner Esports Charts.
The victory earned both Blacklist International and ECHO the chance to represent the Philippines at the MSC 2023, where, for the first time, teams from three new regions from North America, Turkey, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) will also participate. Earlier this year, both teams also represented the country in the recent M4 World Championship, with ECHO taking the title of Champion and Blacklist International as the first runner-up.
Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya was awarded the Grand Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his outstanding performance.
A Night of Legends and Community Favorites
The Grand Finals night was also an opportunity to honor legends and community favorites. Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Legends.
Other awards were bestowed to Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo as the Regular Season MVP, Kenneth Carl “Yue” Tadeo as the Rookie of the Season, Renmar “Reptar” Sta. Cruz as the Best English Caster, and Caisam Yvez “Wolf” Nopueto as the Best Filipino Caster.
In addition, fans voted for the following awards:
- Sportsmanship Award: Ben “Benthings” Maglaque
- Freshest Face Award: Kristof Malcus “Hesu” Calderon
- Most Fashionable Award: Jonmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna
- Best Content Creator Award: Danerie “Wise” Rosario
- Most Improved Team Award: BREN Esports
Most Epic Game Play Awards (no particular order):
- Red for Redemption by Blacklist International
- Sanford’s Backdoor Play by ECHO
- Tali ng Pagkakabigan by Blacklist International
The MPL Philippines tournament is supported by Smart, the official tournament telco partner, while Infinix joins the pool of official sponsors, with MAYA and Secret Lab as the partners in esports.
Champion – ECHO
| Role | Name, IGN |
| ROAM | Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera |
| JUNGLE | Karl Gabriel “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno |
| GOLD LANE | Frederic Benedict “Bennyqt” Nepomuceno |
| EXP LANE | Sanford “Sanford” Vinuya |
| MID LANE | Alston “Sanji” Pabico |
| COACHES | Harold Francis “Tictac” Reyes Robert Alexis “Trebor” Sanchez |
Runner-up – Blacklist International
| Role | Name, IGN |
| ROAM, MID LANE | Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna |
| JUNGLE | Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario |
| EXP LANE | Edward “Edward” Dapadap |
| MID LANE | Kenneth Carl “Yue” Tadeo |
| GOLD LANE | John Redick “Red” Bordeos |
| COACHES | Aniel “Master The Basics” Jiandani Dexter Louise “Dex Star” Cruz Alaba |
