The second season of South Asia PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL) Finals has concluded and Abrupt Slayers have become the first Nepali Team to win the tournament. Championing their way onto the Global PUBG world championship, the squad pulled off a monumental achievement in the relatively young Nepali esports circuit. Slayers, along with fellow Nepali team DRS Gaming and A1eSports from Bangladesh, have now booked their places in the PUBG mobile Global Championship 2020, after finishing second and third respectively.
Their journey started from the PUBG Mobile Club Open Fall (PMCO Fall-2020). PMCO features semi-pro and pro teams from all around the region and serves as the qualifying for the major regional tournament i.e. PMPL. Normally, the majority of teams would have been from India but this season wasn’t a normal one. Due to the recent PUBG ban in India, no Indian teams were able to compete, providing a glorious opportunity for the teams from Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to make a mark for themselves.
The open had 38 teams participating from the above mentioned three nations, out of which 32 teams qualified from their national league. A record 16 teams had qualified from Nepal. Such massive involvement in e-sports had been unprecedented but was a really good indication of the growth of the medium in Nepal over recent times. Teams had to go through the group stage and semi-finals to compete with the remaining 6 invitees in the finals. Altogether, 21 teams were representing Nepal, 16 in the group stage along with the 5 invitees in the finals.
PMCO had 3 rounds: Group Stage, Semi-Finals, and Finals, and the teams advanced through to the next round on the basis of their rankings determined by their points. In the Group Stage, 32 teams faced off against each other, and ultimately, 24 teams qualified for the Semi-Finals. Out of those 24, only 10 teams advanced to the showdown.
Those 10 teams met with the other six invitees and the 16 teams participated in faced off against each other in 12 matches. A winner was decided at the end of each match and points were awarded on the basis of kills and rankings. It was all in all a dominant display from Da Real Soldiers (DRS) gaming who sealed the top spot as well as the top three overall kill charts. Deadeyes Guys and PN Crew finished second and third. Top 13 teams were then promoted to the PMCL. The PUBG ban in India meant that nine additional teams would qualify instead of four as in the previous season.
The final showdown was the PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL). Continuing the trend throughout the season, 10 of the 20 teams featured players from Nepal. Due to the exclusion of the dominating Indian teams, this season provided an even playing field for the teams from Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Even then, Nepali teams had to overcome the challenges of poor network latency (Ping) and comparatively mediocre mobile devices as opposed to teams representing other nations. Despite all the hurdles the teams carried on persistently throughout the season.
Onto the regular season and the 20 teams, which was reduced from last season’s 24, were divided into five groups of four teams each. Each team had to play against all other opponents in the group and the top three from each group qualified for the finals. The best fourth placed team made up the list 16 teams participating in the Finals
Coming onto the Finals, which had 16 teams playing 20 matches, Deadeyes Guys were looking to end the league on a high. They had topped the scrims as well as the regular season, while also bagging $3,000 prize money. Even in the finals they started strong but faltered their way midway throughout the showdown, ending up at a surprisingly low fifth place. At the top of the table, however, Abrupt Slayers were leading the charge on the back of 3 chicken dinners in a row on the first day. And with a valiant display, they remained at the top till the end, winning the championship by the margin of five points. Slayers, Sujan Banjara(King), Prajwall Rai(HeavenXD), Tarun Rauniyar(Charli), Binay Shrestha(JokeR), Nischal Khadka(NovaX), and Saurav Acharya(Daleon), brought home the title and a hefty sum of $40,000 cash prize. DRS and A1 were awarded $20,000 and $14,000 along with the tickets for the global championship. The tournament had an overall prize pool of $142,000. The MVP title and $5,000 cash prize was awarded to DRS’s Nima Tamang, but it wasn’t enough for the team to secure the top spots.
Nepal’s participation on such a large scale despite lacking funding as well as a stable internet connection is really very encouraging. No matter how hard the obstacles have been for the players, they have been able to shine bright in the end. It is the first time that two teams representing Nepal will be participating in the Global PUBG Championship. The event will feature 24 top teams from around the globe vying for the enormous prize pool of $2,000,000.