The Nationals, the Philippines' first franchise-based esports league, has had some big changes in its third year which saw a new developmental approach in its format that resulted in the Academy, Challenger, and Draft series.
The Nationals Challenger Series were two stand-alone weekend tournaments open to everyone in the country aimed to jump start the esports career of many aspiring hopefuls. The Nationals Academy Series was another stand-alone weekend tournament, geared specifically for student-gamers, where only teams and/or players currently enrolled in school can join. Finally, The Nationals Draft Series was a combine-like tournament where the top teams and players in each of the previous series showcased their skills for spots in the top pro team scouts.
The result produced some new faces in new places trying to make their mark in the country's most prestigious competition.
These new faces so far include newcomers Daniel "Kunicat" De Leon who plays for the Cignal Ultra Warriors Lance "Sidesteplance" Yulo from Bren Epro, and Joachim "Gold_Standard" Fuentes drafted by STI elympians. Some familiar fighters have also signed up for a different team this time around. Number one draft pick Mark Daniel "Machinehead" Eking has been fielded by Smart Omega, Jassen "JS5N" Capuyan has joined Laus-Playbook Esports, and Jim "Don Argus" Casimiro is now with the Happy Feet Emperors
The new series and the new talent on display isn't the only exciting change-up to the league this season. There's also a new format for the competition.
The restructured format will contain three stages. The Play Ins stage will be a single round-robin where the two lowest ranked players by the stage's end will be eliminated. Afterwards, the Group Stage will commence which is another round robin with the remaining 10 players. Once again, the two lowest ranked players will be eliminated. Then finally, the Playoffs Stage, similar to the previous playoffs, will be a proper Top 8, double elimination tournament where the Nationals Champion will be crowned.
The Group Stage starts Sunday, May 23, and will be streamed on the GG Network Facebook Page and OneSports every Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 3PM, as well as on television on TV5 and Cignal, via One Sports and One Sports+.