We witnessed the competition here in Manila a few months ago and now, they get to travel to Malaysia for the actual Acer APAC Predator League for 2025.
Since the finals is being hosted in Malaysia, the event will be done at MITEC which usually is a venue for trade expos. This time though there will be 28 teams from different regions in the world. Teams will be battling it out in MMORPG game DOTA 2 and top FPS game Valorant. The winner will be holding up the coveted Predator Shield and a whopping cash prize of 400,000 US Dollars (which will surely change lives no?).
The event will also be a place for different activities because it will be attended by gaming greats, online stars, even cosplay. This is part of their efforts to promote eSports not just in the country but the whole region. The athletes will be donning Acer's Predator gaming rigs, to hopefully showcase how great it is when it comes to response, power and beating your opponents. From Predator Orion X desktop units, to Predator Galea 365 Gaming Headsets, people will surely enjoy every blood rushing game on the Predator XB253Q screens. Folks will also be seeing the "It Lies Within" as performed by different world class artists (perhaps SB19, G22, Dara, Minzy and Sarah Geronimo included!). Hopefully, our boys from ZOL ESports and IVORY would win and make this an even better time for the Philippines! Laban Pilipinas!
From a gamer spectator such as me, I always knew the Philippines would fare well in the recent regional competition, Acer's Predator League 2024. At the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Philippines, fans flocked to this venue to watch DOTA 2 and Valorant country representatives (in Asia Pacific) as they battle it out to see who's best in this region.
There were over 26 world class teams who were raring to do their best in the 2 day event. The prelims was fun albeit being a bit uneasy for some teams because they had only one match to qualify for the next round. It certainly wasn't easy to adjust that fast but those who did took advantage of the format and won their respective rounds. It was also fun to also talk to the eSports athletes before they went into the actual match, here's some of them on video!
The international eSports teams also talked about their experience doing the tournament here in Manila. They did expect matches would be hard since some of them are Tier 1 franchise teams, and a lot of them wanted to experience what it feels like being in a match with them. Although some of them lost their matches, they learned a lot in the process and promise to be back with an even greater team soon.
Aside from that, executives from different regions went on to tell us how it's been actually very beneficial to run these events in their respective countries. To say the least, business has been good and they are planning to do the regional Predator League in Malaysia next year. They also want to do it bigger and better in the coming years as they find big value in knowing how name recall plays in the gaming industry and that's exactly why they're number 1 in the market!
PABLO was super good!
The Asia Pacific Predator League was also the best in entertainment. World class Filipino performers showed up and got us partying at the start, between games and in the finale. On day 1 alone, I got my dose of Valorant fare as Ylona Garcia who sang "Entertain Me" when NEON was launched as a character, oh how I love her! Aside from that, Urbanddub, Al James and Donny Pangilinan joined in the fun plus a full Valorant game with SB19 and other Acer influencers made the evening extra epic! Asia's Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo also ended the day with her performance, people were at awe!
Day 2 had Josh Cullen, bands Sandwich and Spongecola, Pablo (who did a new single on stage) and KZ Tandingan give us the absolute best in Philippine talents, it was like a full blown concert with the games on the finale day.
And in the end, it was a sweet day for the Philippines as Team Secret won the Valorant championship and Blacklist International Rivalry won the DOTA2 championship. Both teams from the Philippines won 65,000 dollars and their own Predator Shield. Initially, BOOM Esports was actually favored to challenge Team Secret, but Japan's FAV Gaming surprised them all. They got 20,000 dollars together with Execration (for DOTA2), and BOOM Esports + Team Flash got 3rd Place with a 7,500 pot each. Team Aster and IHC Esports got the same for DOTA2. Intel MVP awards went to Jeremy “Jremy” Cabrera (for Valorant) and Marc Polo “Raven”Fausto (for DOTA2), getting a prize of 10,000 dollars too.
If you're up to it, some of the performances are already up on my TikTok account so just search @kumagcow there, and some of the country interviews were done live on my FB page (just search kumagcow) as it's all there!
Looks like it's going to be a tough competition for Filipino E-Sport athletes as the Asia Pacific Predator League 2024 Philippine Qualifiers start this month. These are for the exciting RIOT titles particularly games DOTA 2 and Valorant which is still adored in the Manila and elsewhere in the world. This is part Predator's efforts to discover more talent and help existing gamers have an avenue to showcase their skills versus the best of the best for these games in the Asia Pacific region.
Yes, this is a good stepping stone for budding E-Gamers to gain experience in the industry as slots will be given to winners of the Philippine Qualifiers then join the regional finals.
Ms. Sue Ong Lim the GM of Acer Philippines says "I'd like to welcome everyone and our valued partners. Predator has been steadfast in championing eSports in the region. In the next few weeks, we will have a few teams announced as finalists, and we will have the winner soon."
Paulo Sy of TNC says "Asia Pacific Predator League is being hosted by Predator in the region where gamers get to showcase their talent against the best in the region. The country finals will happen at the SM North Edsa Annex Atrium and we have 4 teams Neon, Made in Philippines for DOTA2 and for Valorant we have Naos eSports, Oasis, Zol and Valhalla. During the event the ambassadors and endorsers of Predator will be there to see you. The finals will happen at the Mall of Asia Arena where the Philippine representative will battle it out with other reps from other countries in the region. The finals will be on January 10-14, plus an on ground event and lives stream for those watching at home. It will be 16 teams all in all, separated into 4 groups, then the winners via round robin will battle it out in the championship. The winner will get 65000 USD and special awards will be up for grabs. There will be other events during those dates, and we can't wait to see them early next year!"
PESO Executive Director Marlon Marcelo says "We want to elevate eSports and we have teams doing that now in different events. Happy to say we have won several tournaments, we have been very busy fielding athletes for different games. There is an opportunity to join and compete in the international competitions for 2024. We are doing that in the national level too through Palarong Pambansa. We will do good in DOTA2 and Valorant, which is why we also support the Predator League because they consistently help us, give opportunity for amateurs and professionals to win in a higher competition. The ecosystem in the country is being supported by them, and MOA Arena will be a great venue next year to witness that. We are the number 1 eSports county, see you soon!"
For those who want to start their gaming journey, Predator has the new Helios line which you can check at their experience stores so you can try it out before getting one. The biggest fans of these games are in the Philippines, and the community surely will show up on the day. Be there and Stand Proud!
We've been covering the Predator League for years now and for a while, they've been gone because of the pandemic. This year, they're really raring to go and even extending the whole thing into lands unchartered and putting out a whopping Php 1 Million prize plus the coveted Predator Shield in games of Dota 2 and Valorant. Who will win this remains to be seen.
Young and undiscovered talents have been benefiting from this, imagine 15,000 teams battling it out to represent the country in the Asia Pacific Predator League. From the Qualifiers, to the Group stage and the Finals, this is going to be one tough year. In the country alone, they will have one in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, plus another one in the NCR. That spot certainly will be something that they'd wish to have especially with the prizes at state for them. These important matches will be livestreamed too so you all will be able to cheer for your favorite teams. Once the champion of DOTA 2 and Valorant gets crowned, they get the prize and the shield, including the runner ups, and will be able to represent the Philippines in the big league. That's an honor any team would love right?
The Grand Finals will be early 2024 so stay tuned for more announcements soon. Follow PredatorGamingPhilippines on Facebook or their website predator-league.com because it will all be there!
Just got off from the Batang Pilipino Basketball League press conference this afternoon. By any standard, I am so excited about what's going to happen this January 27-28 at 4 different courts in the city of San Juan namely Ronac Art Center, FilOil EcoOil Centre, the San Juan Gymnasium and the Greenhills West Basketball Court in the same area.
It's a grassroots program initiated by its founders Jun Ebdane and Coach Ron Camara which started October 2020. There's a huge potential in the pool of Filipino youth that still remains untapped and with this program, it'll be an avenue to showcase their talent on the hard court especially in the NCAA, UAAP, PBA and others. They've already held 2 rounds of local games and became champs of their respective regions in order to qualify for this national event. They also have done tryouts for young men and women because they've got separate games for them too. There's also a stark difference with how their version of Basketball is done, because teams must have their players all play once on the court, coaches then can use their best ones in latter quarters hence their tagline "Lahat ng Player Makakalaro, Walang Mababangko!" which means all players will have the chance to have playing time on the court, nobody will be left on the bench.
From a total of 194 different teams composed of 2910 individuals from all over the country, only 500 of them will get the chance to participate in the Finals on January 29 at 4pm. Tickets will be sold at the venue so if you're looking for a place to start for your basketball career, you might just be looking at it.
Aside from that, the league also allows local businesses market their products around venues so they too can earn from the events. Aside from that, they are partnering with the different provinces, local government agencies that help boost tourism in their respective communities to help then grow as a destination. This is just the tip of the iceberg, because they also announced the coming second season which will start around May. So stay tuned for that!
Meanwhile, here's our interview with them this afternoon as they discussed the challenges they had mounting this league and the upcoming finals where 500 of these athletes will all be flown in to Manila and compete here.
See you on these dates and support your favorite teams! You can also watch it on ABSCBN Sports Youtube Channel and will be streamed live as it happens. See you on the sidelines!
Love of basketball is something that is innate with Filipinos. The number one sport in the country now has had a welcome addition to information, much closer to home than you think.
The number one league in the world NBA just partnered with Smart Communications to put up NBA.com/Philippines to make all the information you love about the sport, be all in one place. From what I understand too is that they're making this website contain not just game highlights, stats, standings, scores, schedules, but will be including articles from the best of the best Sports icons, personalities, writers, resource persons from the Philippines to write about all things basketball and say "It's all here!". Aside from that, there will be original NBA content from NBA Hype Squad which is a weekly podcast that will be available on the site.
Present in the occasion were Smart President and CEO and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer Alfredo Panlilio, Smart Vice President and Head of Content Business Development Gerard Milan, First Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Strategy Lloyd Manaloto, PLDT First Vice President and Head of Sports Jude Turcuato, NBA Asia Managing Director Scott Levy and NBA.com Philippines Managing Director Mico Halili.
Currently, Smart subscribers has league pass access rates. In addition to that, prepaid and postpaid subscribers will have exclusive access to editorial content on NBA.com/Philippines for FREE (no data charges). This is the best time to subscribe to the monthly and 3-Game packages with NBA league pass, it only costs Php 485 and Php 85, which is already a great deal. For prepaid subscribers, you may opt to register by dialing *123# and choose GIGA VIDEO 99 since it also includes 1GB worth of data on NBA League pass, which is sweet.
Go check out smart.com.ph for details on these and future plans, and if you're up for sports, get it via NBA.com/Philippines because as I mentioned earlier, it's all there!
I have relatives in the provinces who were fortunate enough to land basketball careers, and true enough play even better ball than professional ones but were just given the perfect opportunity. It doesn’t happen to everyone and these days, athletes like them need to be seen, that’s where the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League comes in. Various men clad in their local uniform representing cities here and in the provinces composed mainly of real Filipino ballers from the best of the best in local communities, former collegiate players, even professional players will start battling in out on the court this January 25 at 7PM. All of these will be seen at ABSCBN Sports and Action (channel 23) and the first head to head match must not be missed because it’s the Parañaque Patriots versus the Caloocan Supremos, live, unadulterated on TV.
Manny Pacquiao founded this league in the hopes of seeing a better grassroots program so they could see and discover great talent but not competing with other leagues, just promoting Philippine basketball as a whole. They want to see the good ones shine and perhaps be drafted in the big leagues, something that would complement it as a whole.
Mr. Arnold Vegafria says “We finally have a league that would really be from the grassroots level and now, Filipinos from all walks of life would get the exposure that they need to show their talent and passion, to hopefully have new hardcourt heroes!”
Teams will be represented by province, city or municipalities much like what format MBA in the past has already done but now have 10 teams from Metro Manila and Luzon. Soon they plan to have teams be represented from Visayas and Mindanao so cross your fingers if you plan to join too. As of now, the league’s current MPBL Comissioner is former PBA Player Kenneth Duremdes who hopes this would be a start of something big, to eventually see all provinces and cities be represented well in the league.
The opening games will be done at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on January 25 and MPBL will be giving away ten motorbikes and one brand new car to lucky fans who will watch the show. This is a production of ALFV Events International and ABSCBN Sports and Action. You may catch the regular games on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays from 7PM to 11PM on the same channel. Make sure you don’t miss it! This is going to be really good!
