After 151 action-packed games in one of the most historic regular seasons to date, eight teams will battle it out in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League - Philippines (MPL-PH) Season 6 playoffs.

Vying for Mobile Legends glory in the Philippines’ biggest mobile esports league are Aura PH, Blacklist International, BREN Esports, Cignal Ultra, Execration, NXP Solid, Omega PH Esports, and Onic PH. MPL-PH is holding the Season 6 playoffs from Oct. 22-25 in partnership with presenting sponsor Smart and official sponsor realme. Moreover, the MPL-PH Season 6 playoffs will also host an all-star showmatch featuring prominent community figures Akosi Dogie and ChooxTV. They will lead their own sets of teams, which will clash on Oct. 25.

Sudden death

The Season 6 playoffs will introduce a revamped format. Instead of the double-elimination bracket from the previous seasons, all qualified teams this season will now duke it out in a single-elimination playoffs bracket.

Combined with the storyline-filled matchups in the first round, the sudden death factor that the new single-elimination format brings increases the stakes for each series, thus giving viewers more reasons to tune in.

The matchups were based on each team’s standing in the regular season. The top seed from each group will face the fourth seed of their opposing group. The second seed, meanwhile, will be matched against the third seed of the opposite group.

Round 1 matchups

Following this order, the first round of the playoffs will be as follows:

• Execration (Group A first seed) vs Cignal Ultra (Group B fourth seed)
• Aura PH (Group A second seed) vs Onic PH (Group B third seed)
• Blacklist International (Group A third seed) vs Omega PH Esports (Group B second seed)
• NXP Solid (Group A fourth seed) vs BREN Esports (Group B first seed)

Each series will also see an increase in the number of games. All series from the first round to the battle for third place will now be a best-of-five instead of a best-of-three.

Meanwhile, the grand finals will now be a best-of-seven series instead of the usual best-of-five.

Playoffs schedule

Execration vs Cignal Ultra (Oct. 22, 4:30 PM)

Execration’s regular season results should be enough to silence doubts about their capabilities. As they set to face Cignal Ultra, a banner that’s already been etched in the league’s history as champions, in the first round of the playoffs, the Jaylord “Hate” Gonzales-powered squad will look to finally claim their long-overdue championship.

Blacklist International vs Smart Omega PH (Oct. 22, 7 PM)

A solid matchup featuring this season’s dark horse going head-to-head with the lone squad that snapped Bren Esports’s winning streak. Blacklist International and Smart Omega PH have been in the league for quite some time now, and both veterans are eager for a more memorable placing.

Aura PH vs Onic PH (Oct. 23, 4:30 PM)

The fates of the league’s fiercest rivals have once again intertwined. This time not in the grand finals, but in the first round of the playoffs. After Onic PH’s dominating victory over the back-to-back defending champions to punctuate their regular season run, Aura PH’s road to claiming a historic three-peat might be bumpier than it seems.

NXP Solid vs Bren Esports (Oct. 23, 7 PM)

After a banter-filled initial matchup that ended heavily in Bren Esports’ favor, NXP Solid will look to have the last laugh as they enter the playoffs for the first time. The series looks heavily lopsided in favor of the Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel-led squad considering their impressive regular season record. Keep in mind, however, that the rookies were responsible for one of Aura PH’s 0-2 losses.

US$54,000 prize pool

Here is the breakdown of the US$54,000 playoffs prize pool.

• Champion - US$25,000
• 2nd Place - US$13,000
• 3rd Place - US$7.000
• 4th Place - US$3,000
• 5th-8th Place - US$1,500 each

A US$1,000 bonus will also be awarded to the Finals MVP.

After the culmination of MPL-PH Season 6, a regional tournament is also in the works at the end of the year. This will give Filipino Mobile Legends fans more reasons to cheer for their favorite teams as the Philippines gets to send its own representatives to the competition.

To ensure the safety and health of the teams, staff, partners, and fans amid the ongoing global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the entirety of the MPL-PH Season 6 playoffs will be played online.

All matches will be streamed live via the MPL-PH official social media channels. Visit Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Facebook, Mobile Legends Esports Facebook, Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines Facebook, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang YouTube.