The Nationals (esports)
The Nationals is an electronic sports league in the Philippines which will have its inaugural season in 2019. It will be the first franchise-based electronic sports in the Philippines. The tournaments are sanctioned by the Esports National Association of the Philippines.
History
Establishment
The Nationals was first announced in June 2018 with its inaugural season set to commence in the first quarter of 2019. The league will feature four titles. The Nationals is envisioned to act as the main pool for national Esports athletes who will compete for the Philippines in international tournaments such as the Asian Games.The league has six founding corporations:
- TheNet.Com
- HappyFeet Esports
- BrenPro Inc.
- Cignal TV Inc.
- PLDT Inc.
- STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc.
- Gambit Esports
Inaugural season
Teams
The six founding corporate partners of The Nationals will field teams for the inaugural season of the Esports tournament. As of August 2018, two more franchise slots are still open which if filled would see eight teams participating in The Nationals. The six participating franchise teams including a new team, Suha, were confirmed by Gariath Concepts in February 2019. A team of one of the founding corporate founders.Team | Company | Joined The Nationals |
Bren EPro | BrenPro Inc. | 2018 |
Cignal Ultra Warriors | Cignal TV Inc. | 2018 |
Happy Feet Emperors | HappyFeet Esports | 2018 |
PLDT–Smart Omega | PLDT Inc. / Smart Communications | 2018 |
STI eOlympians | STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. | 2018 |
Suha-XCTN Punishers | – | 2019 |
Organization
League model
The league will follow a franchise model, the first Esports league in the Philippines to adopt this format. Other franchised based leagues in the country are the Philippine Basketball Association, the Philippine Super Liga, Premier Volleyball League, and the Philippine Football League. The Nationals is recognized by the Esports National Association of the PhilippinesVideo game titles
Three titles, belonging to three categories: PC gaming, Mobile gaming, Console gaming, will be the main Esports titles to be played in The Nationals. Gariath Concepts will handle the operations and logistics of the league.On July 24, 2018 two titles for The Nationals were confirmed: Dota 2 for PC Gaming and ' for Mobile gaming. As of that The Nationals' media day, March 8, 2019, the third and final title to be played in the league will be Tekken 7.
Title | Category |
Dota 2 | PC Gaming |
' | Mobile Gaming |
NBA 2K19 | Console Gaming |
The Road to The Nationals
The Nationals 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. 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.The winning teams and individuals 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.