In the course of the World League finals the previous week, Tencent revealed the invitees for the prestigious PUBG Mobile Pro Leagues or the PMPL for its second season. To the surprise of the community, the Season 1 winner, GXR Celtz, of South Asia leg did not qualify for the league. The Indian team will have to claw their way to get the chance for a two-peat.
Though spectators can still expect a high level of competition through some of the most exceptional PUBG teams in the world, missing the defending champion is an odd circumstance. Celtz was an overwhelming underdog squad last year that fought their spot in the Club Open to the PMPL finals versus the TSM Entity.
Fans of @PUBGMOBILE Esports have voted during the World League Season ZERO! Here are the winners of fan favorite players. #PMWL #BeTheOne pic.twitter.com/C0bGTaJFGN
— PUBG MOBILE Esports (@EsportsPUBGM) August 10, 2020
Yogesh “RoXX” Yadav, a GXR Celtz player, stated through his Instagram story that the grounds for this controversy was the invites were based on the placing of the league stage. He adds that this statement came directly from Tencent India. Only 12 teams are invited for the PMPL Season 2 South Asia. It just so happens that Celtz only managed to land 13th place during the league stages. The pro player, Yadav, pointed out though that this ruling is only implemented in South Asia. All the other region’s invites are formed behind the finals.
A representative from the defending champions also weighed in, “In the other regions, the top teams from the finals were invited. In India, the top 12 teams from the league stage got invited. We are discussing with Tencent as to why this happened.”
The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds publisher is yet to discuss openly which their invites are structured after. The other Pro Leagues, though, seem to adopt the top teams from the league stage. The Taiwan and Malaysia chapters invited the region’s top 12 and 15 squads, respectively. The Americas also have the same format for Season two after a more extended regular season.
When asked on Twitter regarding GXR Celtz’s situation, senior esports manager Jan M. Jahnke did not shy away from the dispute. He expressed, “Because of poor performance in the league itself.”
The community became more puzzled by this response, though. In PMPL Thailand, an organization BOX Gaming fared similar situation as Celtz. The team performed awful in the league stages and landed in 8th place, but was able to win the finals. The difference is the Thai team received their direct invite for the second season.
The GXR Celtz representative continued, “Do we find it unfair? Yes, we do.”