Mineski enjoyed a relatively successful 2018/19 season with the roster that consisted of Nikolay “Nikobaby” Nikolov, Kam “Moon” Boon Seng, Ryan “Bimbo” Jay Qui, Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross Jr. and Damien “kpii” Chok.

As far as their performances throughout 2018/19 DPC season are concerned, Mineski did not shock anyone, with an 18th-place finish on DPC standings, which unfortunately, was not enough for them to qualify for The International for the second year in a row.

That being said, Mineski did get one last chance to prove themselves and qualify for the most prestigious Dota 2 event of the year via Southeast Asia Qualifiers. The Filipino outfit grabbed the opportunity with both hands, pushed through the tedious qualifiers and went on to defeat Team Jinesbrus (3-2) in the grand finals to claim the final ticket for TI9.

There they performed admirably well, got out of the group stage, and even defeated NaVi (1-0) in round one of lower bracket to enter round two, only to suffer a painful 1-2 defeat at the hands of the eventual finalists Team Secret, who ended Mineski’s TI run at ninth-12th place.

Their fairytale, however, ended soon after TI9 came to a close, when one after another all five of their players announced their departure from the team.

First to leave were Bimbo and Nikobaby, who both went on to Twitter to post a message stating “LFT” (looking for a team), whereas Ninjaboogie took his time to write a Facebook post, thanking the fans and revealing, he as well will be leaving the team.

https://www.facebook.com/ninjaboogiee/

Ninjaboogie, Bimbo and Nikobaby left the team on August 28, 2019 and are as of today still looking for a new team, except Ninjaboogie, who rumoured to join a newly formed Dota 2 team. Moon and Kpii, who left Mineski a couple of weeks later, however, already found new homes in Fnatic (Moon) and TNC Predator (Kpii).

As of now, there are no news nor rumours about which players will wear Mineski jersey in 2019/20 DPC season, however, the organization already revealed they have “candidates on trial”.

Which five players will prove themselves in the trials and will get a chance to represent Mineski is expected to be revealed in the upcoming week, seeing how the qualifiers for the first Dota 2 Major are set to kick off on October 5, 2019.

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While all the spotlight is on the European powerhouse, who walked away with a record-breaking US $15,609,853 in prize money, top Philippine team TNC Predator can also be extremely happy with their achievements.

As The International features only the best Dota 2 esports teams in the world, TNC Predator entered the tournament as heavy underdogs as they looked to improve on their 13th-16th finish from last year.

The Philippines representatives kicked off their TI9 campaign with impressive results in the group stage, where they fought their way to 1-1 draws against PSG.LGD and Team Secret as well as a 2-0 win against the TI7 champions and TI9 finalists Team Liquid.

Producing remarkable results in the opening matches of the tournament earned them a respectable third-place finish in a tough group filled with former champions and top dogs.

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Unfortunately, TNC Predator suffered a narrow 1-2 defeat against ViCi in the first round of the upper bracket, which meant their TI9 campaign was to continue in the lower bracket.

There they met with an all too familiar opponent, Team Liquid, who avenged their defeat from the group stage in two swift maps (2-0) and thus ended TNC Predator’s campaign.

If TNC Predator had won against TL and then defeated RNG in the third round, they would have become the first Filipino team in history to reach the top six.

While the improvement to a ninth-12th finish is impressive on its own, TNC Predator also broke their record for highest-earning single tournament by winning $685,852 in prize money this TI, which is almost $170k more than their previous high-mark from TI6, where they finished sixth-seventh ($519,262).

With well over half a million dollars in their pockets, TNC Predator helped TNC Gaming become the 16th best-paid esports organization in the world with a staggering $3,864,215 in total prize money so far.

Carlo “Kuku” Palad ($673,614) and Timothy “Tims” Randrup ($655,363), two of the longest-serving players in TNC Predator, also climbed the ranks in esports earnings and are now second and third ($655,363) respectively among the best-paid Philippines players in history.

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The historic event, which will take place between November 30, 2019 and December 11, 2019, is still over three months away, but the Philippines national esports team, also known as SIBOL, is already making plans to assemble a medal-winning team.

The host nation will enter the 30th SEA Games with six esports teams competing in Dota 2, Starcraft II, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valor, Tekken 7, and Hearthstone.

Before the dates for qualifiers were revealed, SIBOL had already sent out direct invites for the training pool to some of the already established esports talents in the country.

That includes the entirety of TNC Pro Team in addition to some individual talent from other Dota 2 teams who will be joined by top performing players from qualifiers.

Dates of qualifiers are as follows:

August 11-12 – Dota 2, Heartstone, StarCraft II
August 14-16 – Mobile Legends: Gang Bang
August 17-18 – Arena of Valor, Tekken 7

Additional rules for open qualifiers state any Filipino citizen that is 13 years old or above can participate and earn their spot in the national team.

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Once all the qualifiers end, a pool of 74 players combining qualified and invited players will be tested and carefully evaluated by the coaches, who will look over each player��s mastery in his respective title and compatibility with the rest of the team.

Coaches and managers for each team are as follows:

Dota 2
Manager: Paulo Sy
Coach: Paolo ��Sandata�� Bago

StarCraft II
Manager: Jess Joaustine ��JackDReaper�� Tamboboy
Coach: Mark Ryan ��eXoBLaZeR�� Rapisura

Arena of Valor
Manager: Neme Victa
Coach: Rafael ��Cyriux�� Albert

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Manager: Leo Andrew ��Jab�� Escutin
Coaches: Michelle ��Mits�� Liwanag and Brian ��Panda�� Lim

Tekken 7
Manager: Ron ��Hot-E�� Muyot
Coach: Djamille ��Naturelover�� San Juan

Hearthstone
Manager: Richard ��Pompi�� Castillo
Coach: Jan Martin ��Chalk�� Zaldivar

After the evaluation is complete, the original 74-person pool will be reduced to only 27 SIBOL members – seven for each team game and two for each individual game.

The trimming of the squad to 27 is said to conclude by early September, after which SIBOL will reveal the full list of players who will represent them against 10 other nations at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

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Filipino esports community figure Ren Vitug posted the news on Facebook and revealed the new guidelines were signed as far back as October last year, but only shared publicly this week with several local organizers.

Resolution No. 2017-21, or “Guidelines Governing the Conduct of Electronic Sports (E-Sports) in the Philippines”, confirms professional gamers participating in GAB sanctioned esports events hosted in the country have to apply for a 800 pesos permit to play, regardless of whether or not they are a citizen of the Philippines or a foreign visitor.

To successfully gain a license, players must have parental consent, provide income tax returns, certificate of membership with a professional esports club, and subject themselves to drug testing for THC and methamphetamine.

At this time, only players must go through drug testing protocols, and the licenses last for two years, subject to payment of licensing and renewal fees. Filipino players licensed by the GAB have to secure written authority from the board prior to travelling overseas to compete in global tournaments.

But it’s not just the players: “All persons, entities or associations” involved with the organization, operation and participation of a professional esports tournament must comply and pay for licensing to actually host and run the event, as “no tournament, competition or game of Professional E-Sports shall be held without permit duly issued by the board.” Organizers must also file their application at least ten days ahead of the event in question, otherwise it’s not a guarantee.

Team managers, coaches and promoters pay slightly more than the players for the permits (around 1,000 to 1,200 pesos) and organizers have to pay fees to get the proper license to just run their event, costing around 800 pesos per day – more if there are multiple esport titles played during the event. This could be costly for tournaments hosting multiple gaming competitions, though without the GAB’s approval, a professional event cannot legally run in the Philippines.

Three per cent of ticket sales profit and other revenue streams, such as “television, radio, and motion picture rights” must also be remitted to the GAB within fifteen days of the event’s completion, with a 50% deposit of the estimated percentage remitted to the board prior to its commencement.

There are some exceptions to all of these new mandatory fees and licensing requirements. Smaller amateur events with zero licensed players participating, or competitions that are just regional or minor qualifiers for a larger tournament later in the year, are not classified under the GAB’s definition of a “professional event”.

However, as soon as an event’s prize-pool exceeds 10,000 pesos or more, it will be classified as a professional gaming event under the new guidelines.

International organizers are not happy with the local gaming board’s manadatory requirements: Valve recently rescinded the Majors designation of Dota 2 Galaxy Battles 2018, just days away from commencing in the Philippines, declaring the new regulations associated with the drug testing as ��unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players��. The event has since had multiple international teams drop out, despite local organizer Fallout Gaming pressing on.

The GAB of the Philippines, the country’s governing body for sports and competitions, first announced its recognition of Filipino professional gamers back in August 2017, classifying them as athletes under Philippine law, similar to players in more traditional sporting leagues.

While the initial excitement has dialled down since, we can’t see some of these new mandatory regulations, particularly the daily permit fee per game, sitting well with local, smaller esports organizers. There is a passionate fighting game and competitive LAN scene in the Philippines that will be struck hardest by these new laws, given now every single participant must be licensed to even play, let alone the fees for hosting tournaments with more than one game competition.

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In an official blog post, Valve confirmed that new government regulations for esports players entering the Philippines is the reason behind the shock decision to repeal the event’s Majors status for competitive Dota 2. This means the event will not count towards the Dota Pro Circuit or award any qualifying points for participating teams.

The regulations Valve refers to in the post are most likely those implemented with the recent introduction of esports licenses in the country, which requires all esports players in the Philippines to submit to mandatory medical requirements testing, including ECG, X-rays and drug tests, to successfully be approved for an e-gamer permit.

The move is a major blow to Galaxy Battles 2018 (also called Galaxy Battles II) which is scheduled to run January 19 – 21 and has over US$1 million in prize-money for participants to win. It was, until this week, a key stepping stone for players in the South-East Asia region to earn Qualifier Points to put towards attending and playing in The International 8, the biggest Dota 2 tournament and esports event of them all.

Valve states they believe the new regulations are “unreasonable infringements on the privacy of the players”, and have also pulled all official involvement and sponsorship for the tournament. While it is unclear whether international esports players entering the country to play professionally are subject to such requirements, Valve’s wording in their official statement suggests they have confirmed it does.

The developer of Dota 2 is currently in talks with the official Galaxy Battles organizers, Fallout Gaming, to attempt to run a Major in the region for the invited and qualifying teams that would include the Pro Circuit points that would have been available in Galaxy Battles 2018. Hopefully, with a bit more time, both parties can organize another event so the players don’t get caught by such a unlucky start to the New Year.

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Local Filipino gaming organisation Mineski.net posted the GAB’s statement on their official Facebook page, which confirmed the organization has “started recognizing esports or competitive computer/video gaming as among the professional activities falling under its regulation and supervision.”

The move means esports will now be regulated by the GAB alongside traditional sports like boxing, basketball, golf and football, though the government agency has acknowledged esports is a different beast altogether: “While esports is different from the traditional competitions that we are used to, it cannot be denied that esports requires tremendous amounts of skill and training, and in the case of [multiplayer] online battle arenas (MOBA), careful planning and strong teamwork. ”

The GAB vows to health and welfare protection for esports players, along with upholding the “integrity of the games and prevent match-fixing, fraud and possible breach of contracts that could leave our local players at a disadvantage.”

There is word, as reported by eSports Observer, that the government will tax winnings earned from esports events.

The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) was founded in 1951 and is a government-ran regulatory body of professional sports in the Philippines, headed by a Chairman and two commissioners.

The GAB has already confirmed they have licensed around a dozen Filipino players who are competing in The International 2017 DOTA2 Championships in Seattle, Washington later this year.

EsportBet opinion: Considering the GAB regulate many other oddball sports and activities in the country, it’s great to see they have acknowledged the growing importance of esports, and it will definitely be a boon for the local professional gaming teams based out of the country.

Not too long ago the eGG (Every Good Game) network just signed with the Philippines’ Globe��s BEAM TV for exclusive broadcast rights to air their eGG eSports channel, the first esports HD channel in South East Asia.

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The eGG (Every Good Game) network is the first eSports HD channel available in South East Asia, launching in June 2016 to focus on eSports broadcasts and live tournaments from around the world. The first tournament broadcast by eGG was The International Dota 2 Championships in 2015, and the network has since broadcasted the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive eLeague, the FIFA Interactive World Cup, League of Legends World Championship and several others.

The new partnerships were signed with television networks Singtel (Singapore), Globe��s BEAM TV (Philippines), and Orange TV and Genflix (Indonesia). Due to the broadcasting rules in the Philippines, eGG��s broadcasting times will be reduced to 18 hours in accordange to the country��s current rules regarding network-affiliated media groups.

Vice President of Sports Business for Astro, Lee Choong Khay, confirmed the new partnerships, saying, ��We are excited with the growing demand of eSports, and we can only get better as we seek more strategic partnerships in the region.?eGG is off to a good start, and we expect it to play a pivotal role in driving expansion for us into new markets.

��We look forward to more on-ground events to strengthen our offerings for our partners in the region. In October 2016, we collaborated with PGL to bring CS:GO Minor Championship Asia to Malaysia. eSports transcends languages and borders hence opens up unique content creation and advertising opportunities.��

Khay estimates the new partnerships could increase the eGG audience by as many as 36 million viewers.

Jil Go, Globe Vice President for Content?said, ��The eSports and gaming community in the Philippines continues to gain ground and we are thrilled with the opportunity to be able to provide these types of content to our customers, whether on their mobile or at the comfort of their homes. Through our original productions arm, Globe LIVE, we are also set to strengthen our events portfolio to give our customers more experiential events to enjoy their favorite content on a larger scale.��

Astro says the eGG network aims to attract the eSports generation back to television instead of just streaming content online.

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