Road to The Nationals

The Road to The Nationals is a series of tournaments which serves as the prelude to the inaugural 2019 season of the eSports league in the Philippines known as "The Nationals". The winners will be part of a pool of players which the six pioneering teams of the league will draw players from.

Road to The Nationals
LeagueThe Nationals
SportElectronic sports
DurationEliminations
August – October 2018
Grand final
October 26 – 27, 2018
Number of teamsGrand final (ESGS 2018)
8 (Dota 2)
and eight solo players for Tekken 7
TV partner(s)ESPN 5
Finals championsDota 2
Sterling Global Dragons
Tekken 7
Andreij Albar (PBE|Doujin)
  Runners-upDota 2
Station 751
Tekken 7
Alexandre Lavarez (PBE|AK)

Background

Launch and format

The Nationals eSports league was officially launched on July 24, 2018, in a press conference. In the same event, the "Road to The Nationals" a series of qualification tournament to determine the players of the six franchise teams to compete in The Nationals' inaugural season was announced. Three qualifiers for each of The Nationals three video game titles will be held.[1] These tournaments will run from August to October 2018 with the qualifying eight teams from each of the three titles competing in the final qualification tournament at the Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 to be held from October 27 to 28 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.[2]

The winning teams will be given millions of pesos in prize money and a chance to get drafted in one of the six franchise teams of The Nationals.[1]

Video game titles

Three titles, belonging to three categories: PC gaming, Mobile gaming, Console gaming, will be contested in The Nationals.[1] On July 24, 2018, two titles for The Nationals were confirmed: Dota 2 for PC Gaming and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for Mobile gaming. As of that date, two titles are being considered for the Console gaming category: NBA 2K19 and Tekken 7.[1] NBA 2K19 was confirmed as the third title by August 2018.[3] but this decision was retracted and Tekken 7 was made the third title in September 2018.[4] The Road to The Nationals will feature these three titles.

Road to The Nationals
video game titles
Title Category
Dota 2 PC Gaming
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mobile Gaming
NBA 2K19
Tekken 7		 Console Gaming

Qualification tournaments

Dota 2

Elimination tournaments for Dota 2 will be held from August 4 to October 13, 2018.[5]

Date Host Qualified teams
Venue Locality
August 4, 2018 TNC Morayta Manila Quid Pro Quo[6]
Sterling Global Dragons[note 1]
So Lucky[7]
August 11, 2018 Mineski Portal Cebu Cebu City Polar Ace[note 2]
Station 751[7]
August 25, 2018 iPlay CyberSquare Cagayan de Oro Davao's Pride[6]
September 22, 2018 TNC Bacolod Bacolod Voyager[6]
September 29, 2018 Localhost Café Iloilo City TaskUs Titans[note 2]
October 13, 2018 UGZ Imus, Cavite Sterling Global Dragons[note 2]

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

The Road to The Nationals integrates the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Season 2 tournament for the elimination phase of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.[9]

Tekken 7

Elimination tournaments for Tekken 7 was scheduled be held from August 4 to October 13, 2018.[10] Originally the schedule was meant for elimination tournaments for NBA 2K19 before the basketball video game title was replaced by the arcade fighting game.[11]

Date Host Qualified players
Venue Locality
September 22, 2018 First 5 Lounge Cebu City Francis Cabahug[12][13] (UFTC|Gogoy)
September 29, 2018 Game Patch Davao City Jade Jaynine[8] (ArkAngel.Jaynine)
September 30, 2018 Captain Poi's Gamehouse Cagayan de Oro Raymund Sarte[8] (LimitBreak)
October 6, 2018 PlayBook Makati Makati AK)
Andreij Albar[14] (PBE|Doujin)
October 13, 2018 Secret Base Gaming Lounge and Boardgame Cafe Marikina Juliano Lozano[7] (Elite.Jules)
October 14, 2018 PlayBook Makati Makati Ryan Cocharo[7] (SMAP|Tomahawk)
Jeffrey Gonzales[7] (Coffee_Prinz!)

Final tournament

The final tournament will be held in conjunction with the Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018 from October 27 to 28 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay.[2] Matches will be broadcast live on AksyonTV.[7]

Dota 2

Eight teams qualified for the final tournament. The final best-of-five series was contested between the Sterling Global Dragons and the Station 751. The former team won 3–1 over the latter.[15]

Tekken 7

Eight players qualified for the final tournament. Alexandre Lavarez (PBE|AK) and Andreij Albar (PBE|Doujin) contested in the final match with the latter winning over the former.[16]

Notes
  1. The Sterling Global Dragons originally qualified through the tournament held in Manila. However due to a roster change they had to forfeit their qualification spot to So Lucky and qualified again for the final competition through the Cavite qualifier.[7]
  2. The TaskUs Titans originally qualified for the Road to The Nationals Finals through the Cebu qualifier as Polar Ace back when the team has yet to enter in a sponsorship deal with TaskUs. The team change its roster but had to qualify again due to rules prohibiting a team to add or change members of its roster in the middle of the series.[8] They were replaced by Station 751.

References
  1. Ansis, JC (25 July 2018). "Road to The Nationals: Searching for esports pro athletes in the Philippines". Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  2. Agustin, Ram Christian (24 July 2018). "The Nationals give PH esports industry a boost". Manila Standard. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  3. "PLDT, Smart kick off 'Road to Nationals' open eSports tournament". Manila Standard. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. "Tekken 7 now part of Road to the Nationals". ESPN. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  5. "Schedule". The Nationals PH. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  6. "PLDT, Smart gather country's best Tekken 7 players at the ESGS 'Road to the Nationals' finals". Philippine Daily Inquirer. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  7. "Final competitors qualify for Road to The Nationals grand finals". ESPN. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  8. "Redemption Arc: Visayas and Mindanao Crown Road to the Nationals Finalists". Manila Bulletin. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  9. "PLDT, Smart kick off 'Road to Nationals' open eSports tournament". Manila Bulletin. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  10. "Schedule". The Nationals PH. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  11. "Schedule". The Nationals PH. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  12. "Cebuano veteran dominates Road to The Nationals' 'Tekken 7' Qualifiers". Rappler. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  13. "Road to The Nationals takes further root with recent Cebu event". BusinessWorld. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  14. "Top local Tekken 7 players advance to Road to the Nationals finals". ESPN. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  15. "Sterling Global Dragons are Your Road to The NAtionals 2018 (DOTA 2) Champions". Mogul Arena. SEA Esports PTE LTD. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  16. Ronquillo, Ram (30 October 2018). "PBE|Doujin crowned Road to The Nationals Tekken 7 champion". ESPN. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
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