MANILA -- Kill-death-assist (KDA) machine Salic "Hadji" Imam is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang - Philippines Season 8's most valuable player for the regular season, the league announced Tuesday evening.

With a 4.65 KDA rate, 2.67 kills per game and 5.79 assists per game, Blacklist International's Hadji bested Onic Philippines captain and returning player Allan "Baloyskie" Baloy and Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna, who placed second and third, respectively.

Blacklist's Salic "Hadji" Imam is MPL - Season 8's MVP for the regular season after averaging 2.67 kills/game and 5.79 assists/game. He also ended the regular season with a 4.65 KDA rate and a 61.86% kill participation rate. pic.twitter.com/vdt9FOjMPf

— Angela Coloma (@mac_coloma) October 19, 2021

Coming off a Smart Omega squad which released him before the regular season, 18-year-old Hadji was the lone addition to Blacklist's lineup, which kept its Season 7 championship core entering season 8.

His crucial plays lifted the defending champs from critical in-game situations and helped propel the squad to their best record yet, a 13-1 record, to cap off the season.

• Mobile Legends: Hadji’s crucial flame shot lifts Blacklist past Smart Omega in 2-1 thriller
• Mobile Legends: Blacklist edge Nexplay, take MPL Season 8 upper-bracket slot

MPL Philippines said the criteria was based on the nomination of casters and analysts, who were made to pick and rank three candidates.

Candidates must be from one of the top 2 teams in the regular season -- first-seeded Blacklist and second-seeded and Onic.

The player must have also won weekly MVP and had "excellent in-game stats or had outstanding performance for his respective team." Criteria further indicated that the player must be spotless of any serious violations of the league's rules.

Playoffs will start on Thursday, October 21, with Onic and Blacklist starting their games on Friday after securing the upper-bracket cushion.