The Nationals, the Philippines’ first franchise-based esports league, is shaking things up for its third year. The league is expanding its tournament reach to be inclusive of amateurs and students.
Introducing a brand new format with new tournament divisions, The Nationals will no longer be limited to just a league that showcases the country’s best professional esports athletes. Instead, it will also open its doors to anyone who aims to be a professional esports player.
Giving Opportunities to Amateurs
For every conference in its 2021 Season, The Nationals introduces two new tournament divisions for aspiring amateur esports players: The Challenger Series and the Academy Series.
The Nationals Challenger Series are two stand-alone weekend tournaments open to everyone in the country, regardless of age and gender. The Challenger Series for 2021 will be done fully online, which should open the opportunity to a lot of hopefuls.
Student-gamers are in for a treat as well, as The Nationals Academy Series is another stand-alone weekend tournament where only teams and/or players currently enrolled in school can join. This new addition aims to provide more opportunities for school-based players to showcase their skills in different esports game titles.
The league will not be charging anything for sign-ups on these tournaments.
Presenting the Draft Series
To provide more Filipinos with a path to becoming professional esports athletes, The Nationals Draft Series is also being introduced this 2021. The top teams and players in the Challenger Series and the Academy Series will qualify for the Draft Series.
While it is a tournament by itself, it serves more like a combine for the players to exhibit their skills and talent. Scouts will be intently watching the games as they try to find the next big esports star.
A draft will happen not long after this tournament. Only players 15 years old and above from the draft series are eligible. Each franchise will be required to pick at least one player, with the drafting order being determined by their finish from the previous conference (if applicable).
Once a player is drafted and signed, they will become full-fledged team members of the Franchise teams. With the league’s changes in the minimum number of games per player, any drafted player is guaranteed to see action in the upcoming Pro League.
Four Conferences
The target first three conferences of the 2021 season are Tekken 7, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Dota 2. A fourth conference will happen later this year, and while it can be a repeat of the year’s most successful conference, the league is not ruling out the possibility of introducing a new game.
Get ready to achieve your Esports Dream
With its 2021 season officially starting, The Nationals expands its focus from having a prestigious professional league into having programs to discover and develop the new generation of Esports Champions. The league wants to use its platform to welcome and promote the grassroots and the academe esports scene, and it believes that both are vital in making sure that our country can maintain its esports success.
The Nationals’ Path to Pro, are you ready to achieve your Esports dreams?
“As we head over to our third season, we took a look at what we can improve for our players and our fans. We wanted to create a better player ecosystem, which is why we are changing our format into having an inclusive and full path to pro series. With whatever game we have, we are providing a clear opportunity to be a pro player,” says The Nationals Commissioner, Mr. Ren Vitug. “We hope to see you in our games!”
The Nationals 2021: Ang Liga ng mga Kampyon
The Nationals is the home of multiple esports champions locally and worldwide. Bren Esports recently brought home the gold from the Mobile Legends M2 World Championships held in Singapore. All of the game titles the league hosted also help produce players that became medalists in the inaugural Southeast Asian Games Esports Competition in 2019.The Nationals MLBB Season 1 Finale Champion, team Bren Epro
With this, The Nationals is truly a League of Champions. Mr. Jab Escutin, the league’s president, had this to say: “It is very exciting for us to see new and aspiring players get drafted by the pro teams in The Nationals. Please compete with and join us, in The Nationals’ third season. This is the League of Champions.”
The Nationals Season 3 kicks off with the Tekken 7 Challenger Series happening this March 20, 2021. Registration for the tournament is now ongoing. The Nationals also continues to be available on television on TV5 and Cignal, via One Sports and One Sports+.
