The Nationals (esports)

The Nationals

Current season, competition or edition: 2022 The Nationals
Sport	Esports
Founded	2018
First season	2019
President	Kevin Chung[1]
Commissioner	Ren Vitug[1]
No. of teams	6
Country	Philippines
TV partner(s)	eGG Network 5 Plus
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	None
Related competitions	Challenger Series Academy Series
Official website	Official Website, archived from the original on June 1, 2021

The Nationals is an electronic sports (Esports) league in the Philippines which had its inaugural season in 2019. It is the first franchise-based electronic sports in the Philippines. The tournaments are sanctioned by the Esports National Association of the Philippines (ESNAP).^[2]

History

Establishment

The Nationals was first announced in June 2018 with its inaugural season which began in the first quarter of 2019. The league was announced to feature four titles. The Nationals was envisioned to act as the main pool for national Esports athletes who could compete for the Philippines in international tournaments such as the Asian Games.^[3]

The league had six founding corporations:^[4][5]

• TheNet.Com
• HappyFeet Esports
• BrenPro Inc.
• Cignal TV Inc.
• PLDT Inc.
• STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc.
• Gambit Esports

The Nationals (2019–present)

The inaugural 2019 season commenced on March 24, 2019, featuring three video game titles. Two conferences were held for each title. Both double round-robin group stage and single-elimination playoffs were adopted as the competition format with the top players in each title and conference playing against each other in the season finale. Six teams entered for the inaugural season, with STI joining mid-season after the Dota2 competition.^[6]

For the 2021 season, two divisions were introduced opening The Nationals to non-professionals; These divisions are: The Challenger Series which was open to amateurs and the Academy Series which was for players who are enrolled in schools at the time of their participation. The Nationals Draft Series will be introduced with the top players of the Challenger and Academy series eligible to enter.^[7]

The Nationals would introduce a new title, Call of Duty: Mobile for the 2022 season. It would join the three titles present in its lineup since its inaugural season.^[8]

Teams

The six founding corporate partners of The Nationals fielded 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.^[9] 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.^[10][6]

Team	Company	First season
Bren EPro	BrenPro Inc.	2019
Cignal Ultra Warriors	Cignal TV Inc.	2019
Happy Feet Emperors	HappyFeet Esports	2019
Smart Omega	Smart Communications	2019
STI eOlympians	STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc.	2019
Laus Auto Group Playbook Esports Eagles	Laus Auto Group / PlayBook Esports	2020

Team	Company	Last Season
Suha-XCTN Punishers	–	2019

Organization

Format

The league follows 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.^[11] The Nationals is recognized by the Esports National Association of the Philippines^[12]

Video game titles

Three titles, belonging to three categories: PC gaming, Mobile gaming, Console gaming, are the main Esports titles played in The Nationals.^[12][3] Gariath Concepts will handle the operations and logistics of the league.^[3]

Three titles were featured in The Nationals upon the launch of its inaugural season in 2019:^[13][14] Dota 2 for PC Gaming and Mobile Legends for Mobile gaming and Tekken 7 for the Console gaming category. NBA 2K19 was also proposed to be played in The Nationals.^[12] A fourth title, Call of Duty: Mobile was introduced in the 2022 season.^[8]

The Nationals video game titles

Title	Category
Call of Duty: Mobile	Mobile Gaming
Dota 2	PC Gaming
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang	Mobile Gaming
Tekken 7	Console Gaming

Record

Season	Year	Dota 2	Mobile Legends: Bang Bang	Tekken 7	Call of Duty: Mobile
1	2019	Cignal Ultra Warriors	Cignal Ultra Warriors	Alexandre "AK" Laverez[15]	—
		Suha-Execration Punishers[16]	Bren Epro[17]	Alexandre "AK" Laverez[15]
2	2020	Cignal Ultra Warriors[18]	Bren Epro	AK (Laus Playbook)[19]	—
3	2021	—	Cignal Ultra Warriors	AK (Laus Playbook)[20]	—
4	2022	—	—	—	Smart Omega[21]

Broadcasting rights

The Nationals has been broadcast at 5 Plus on ESPN 5 in the Philippines. League matches were also aired at the One Sports through Cignal TV and Cablelink for Philippine-based viewers as well as eGG Network for the viewers across Southeast Asia and Australia.^[1] Matches of Road of The Nationals were aired live in the country on ESPN 5.^[3]

References

1. Patino, Martin (February 8, 2019). "The Nationals Begins Franchise-Based Esports League in March 2019". GG Network. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
2. Abad, Roderick (July 24, 2018). "TV5-ESPN5 launches Esports league". BusinessWorld. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
3. "The Nationals is first esports franchise league in PH". ESPN 5. June 14, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
4. Ashton, Graham (June 14, 2018). "Multi-Game Franchised League to Launch in the Philippines With Six Corporate Partners". The Esport Observer. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
5. Fitch, Adam (June 15, 2018). "The Nationals franchised league announced for the Philippines". Esports Insider. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
6. Morales, Luisa (March 9, 2019). "'The Nationals' out to legitimize esports in Philippines". The Philippine Star. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
7. "The Nationals launches new format for Season 3". ESPN.com. March 13, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
8. Castillo, Jonathan (August 27, 2022). "The Nationals becomes home of Call of Duty: Mobile Philippine Open for 2022". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
9. Abad, Roderick (July 24, 2018). "TV5-ESPN5 launches Esports league". BusinessMirror. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
10. "6 Franchise teams are revealed..." Facebook. Gariath Concepts. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
11. Saldajeno, Ivan Stewart (June 16, 2018). "1st eSports franchise league to be launched in PH". Philippine News Agency. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
12. Ansis, JC (July 25, 2018). "Road to The Nationals: Searching for esports pro athletes in the Philippines". Retrieved July 25, 2018.
13. "PLDT, Smart kick off 'Road to Nationals' open eSports tournament". Manila Standard. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
14. "Tekken 7 now part of Road to the Nationals". ESPN. September 12, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
15. "Ang hari ng The Nationals na si AK" [AK: The king of The Nationals]. One Esport (in Filipino). May 13, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
16. "Suha rips Cignal in The Nationals Dota 2 second conference finals". BusinessMirror. May 31, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
17. "Bren sweeps Happy Feet Emperors". Manila Bulletin. November 15, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
18. "Cignal Ultra makes it two in a row, bags P500k in The Nationals". Manila Bulletin. November 9, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
19. "AK rules The Nationals Tekken 7 anew". Manila Bulletin. September 27, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
20. Galindo, Daryll (June 6, 2021). "AK Completes The Nationals Tekken 7 Pro League 3-Peat". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
21. Valmoria, Mon Anthony (October 9, 2022). "Smart Omega wins inaugural CODM Philippine Open at The Nationals". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved July 7, 2023.