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| Liquid PH and Onic PH will be the two Filipino teams for MSC, which has new rules. MPL Philippines (file photo) |
MANILA--There will only be one bronze medalist in this year's MLBB Midseason Cup as a third place match has been added into the prestigious Esports World Cup event's knockout phase.
Unlike last year when Team Liquid Philippines and NIP Flash both shared third place, the new twist will assure that the teams that will fall down in the semifinals will have to play one more time to determine which will join the finalists at the MSC podium.
To add to the excitement, the bronze medalist for the MSC will now take home US$250,000, up from US$200,000 last year.
Another tweak from last year's rules is an incentive given to the top four teams after the group stages.
The Top 4, essentially those that will go 2-0 in the first round, which in itself was revamped too, will get to choose which teams among from the other four quarterfinalists they want to face next.
The seeding for the Top 4 will depend on how fast they finish off their opponents.
"This new mechanic reinforces the importance of performances at every stage, maintaining competitive intensity throughout," Moonton said in a statement on Wednesday.
The new quarterfinal pairing rule is a huge diversion from last year's rule wherein the top seeds were drawn randomly to face with opponents from the second seeds.
The previous draw drew mixed reactions after it denied a potential all-Filipino finals between Liquid PH and AP Bren, which both ended up facing off in the semifinals.
In the new group stage rules, the 15 outright entries, led by Liquid PH and defending champion SRG.OG, and the winner of the wildcard phase will be divided into two groups of eight.
The teams will then play a double-elimination phase, which will end once four clubs from each group already have two wins each.
The matches in the group stages are now best-of-three affairs, ensuring that each clash will have a winner.
As aforementioned, the teams that will finish 2-0 in the group stages will have incentives come the playoffs, while those with 2-1 records will have to wait for the result of the draw to find out their next opponents.
All the knockout phase matches up to the battle for third are best-of-five showdowns, while the finals remain a best-of-seven series.
US$1 million awaits the MSC champ, while US$500,000 will be given to the first runner-up, making up half of a massive US$3 million prize pool.
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