M5 World Championship: A Comprehensive Guide
2023-Oct-16 12:53
2023-Dec-01 10:21
Graphic by Rodolfo Dacleson II
Filipino ML fans make some noise as the biggest Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) tournament globally draws near. Set in the region where world champions reside, the Philippines will host the MLBB World Championship for the first time.
Now on its fifth iteration, M5 introduces notable changes in the competition to be discussed further in this comprehensive guide.
Understanding the M5 World Championship
The M5 World Championship is the fifth staging of the M-series held since 2019. Indonesia's EVOS Legends won M1 before the Philippines' Bren Esports (M2), Blacklist International (M3), and ECHO (M4) claimed the next three titles.
This year, 16 teams from different regions will clash to be crowned the best Mobile Legends team in the world, aside from bagging the largest share of the US$900,000 prize pool or more than P51 million as of October 16, 2023.
M5 World Championship Format
The sixteen teams are divided into groups of four during the group stages. Each team participates in a single-round robin against their three groupmates in best-of-three matches.
The group winner and runner-up will advance to the knockout stage, while the bottom two teams get eliminated.
In the KO phase, the top eight squads will fight in a double-elimination bracket. Except for the grand finals to be played in a best-of-seven (Bo7), all matches are in best-of-five (Bo5) format.
Changes in the M5 Format
As mentioned earlier, there are several changes the organizers will implement this M5 as stated below:
No more Bo1 in the group stages
In contrast to the group stage format before, featuring a best-of-one (Bo1) only, all matches in the M5 group play will follow a best-of-three (Bo3) format.
Bottom two eliminated
Unlike the preceding MLBB World Championship editions, the two bottom teams of the group standings will face early elimination in M5. Before, these squads could still contend via the playoffs lower bracket.
Inclusion of M5 Wild Card Qualifiers
The wild card qualifiers served as the last chance for teams to qualify for M5. Scheduled to take place a month before the group stages, this qualifying tournament will be held in Malaysia, with the top two teams joining the other 14 in the Philippines.
M5 World Championship Schedule
Following the wild card event to be staged on November 23-26 is the group stage from December 2-7.
A one-day break on December 8 will be followed by an eight-day knockout stage from December 9-16.
The grand finale is set for December 17 to close the Mobile Legends festivities.
M5 Qualified Teams
- ONIC Esports (MPL Indonesia Season 12 champion)
- Geek Fam (MPL Indonesia Season 12 runner-up)
- HomeBois (MPL Malaysia Season 12 champion)
- SeeYouSoon (MPL Cambodia Autumn champion)
- RRQ Akira (Liga Latam champion)
- Bigetron Sona (Liga Latam runner-up)
- Deus Vult (MLBB Continental Championships Season 2 champion)
- Burmese Ghouls (M5 Myanmar Qualifier champion)
- The Ohio Brothers (North America Challenger Cup Fall champion)
- AP Bren (MPL Philippines Season 12 champion)
- Blacklist International (MPL Philippines Season 12 runner-up)
- Team Flash (MPL Singapore Season 6 champion)
- Triple Esports (MPL MENA Fall champion)
- Fire Flux Esports (MTC Turkiye Championship Season 2 champion)
- Team SMG (Wild Card)
- Team Lilgun (Wild Card)
Where to Watch the M5 World Championship?
All M5 matches will be streamed live online via the official MLBB platforms.