MANILA, Philippines – AP.Bren and current SIBOL coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro is the most recent inductee to the Mobile Legends Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines' Hall of Legends.
Started back in Season 10, the MPL Philippines Hall of Legends inductees are voted by the Mobile Legends Bang Bang community (fans, casters, media and fellow players), and they are personalities that shaped the MLBB esports scene. Eleven inductees were recognized at the launch of the Hall of Legends, with the league recognizing one inductee every season since.
Glindro was the coach of the first M-series champions from the Philippines, Bren Esports, after the team won against Mynamar's Burmese Ghouls in January 2021.
Since then, the team faced numerous setbacks, not making it into the playoffs for two seasons. In Season 10, the team saw a comeback, finally reaching the playoffs and becoming one of the strongest teams in the country. Glindro led the squad to a gold medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games held in Cambodia last May, and to a championship in the 15th World Esports Championship in Romania last September.
"[2023] has been a wild ride. I mean, the team has been all over the place. I'm really happy that this is happening to me and very thankful. It's a very humbling experience for me to be on top and then suddenly fall down, sa pinaka-ilalim. Hindi nawalan ng tiwala sa akin yung mga bata, yung management. But I wanted to lead them back [to the team's] former glory, and now we are on the verge of that," Glindro told Philstar.com after AP.Bren secured the first M5 World Championship slot.
League awards, Greatest Players nominees
Besides Glindro, MPL Philippines also celebrated the different achievements during the past season.
TNC Pro Team, though not making it into the playoffs, won two fan awards: Best Roster Reveal for their cinematic video announcing their roster, and Freshest Face Award for jungler King "K1NGKONG" Cyric Perez.
Blacklist International's Renejay "RENEJAY" Barcase won the Sportsmanship Award, while the team's correspondent Dannica Suazo won Best Team Correspondent. Restreamers TooFastGaming and Amma of Myanmar also bagged best restreamers for Filipino and global communities, respectively.
For the league awards, host Mara Aquino and caster Dan "Leo" Cubangay won the Best Filipino and English talents, respectively, while Smart Omega's jungler Ron "Matt" Papag won Rookie of the Season. ECHO won two awards: coach of the season for Archie "Tictac" Reyes and regular season MVP for Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno.
MPL Philippines has also announced the league's nominees for the M Series 5th Anniversary “The Greatest Ten Players”. The anniversary awards celebrate the greatest players from each professional league region who have made an appearance on the world stage.
For the local league, seven nominees were revealed: M2 winners Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel and CJ “Ribo” Ribo, M3 winners Salic “Hadji” Imam and Edward “Edward” Dapadap and M4 winners Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomucen7o, Benedict “Bennyqt” Gonzales and Tristan “Yawi” Cabrera.
The winners of the Greatest Ten Players will be announced during the M5 World Championship awards ceremony happening in Manila this December.