M5 Draw: AP Bren in Group C, Blacklist International goes Group B

AP Bren and Blacklist International got to know their opponents in the upcoming M5 World Championship in the Philippines after the group draw on Saturday, November 4.

Bren, the reigning Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines champion, was drawn in Group C, while Blacklist went to Group B.

In Group C, the Beehive will take on Myanmar's Burmese Ghouls (BG), Mark "Hadess" Lazaro-mentored Team Flash of Singapore, and a Wildcard Round entrant.

APBR, formerly called Bren Esports, and BG met each other in the M2 finale in 2020, with the Filipino side defeating their Southeast Asian rival for the Philippines' first-ever M-series crown led by Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Karl Gabriel "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, now ECHO jungler.

Team captain Angelo Kyle "Pheww'' Arcangel and Bren is also set to face Filipino jungler Hadess and the reigning MPL Singapore titlist.

Hadess, who is on loan from Indonesia's Geek Fam, helped Team Flash end RSG Singapore's three-season reign after reverse sweeping them, 4-3, for their first MPL SG title. The 21-year-old, who last played for ECHO in MPL Philippines Season 9 before departing to Indonesia, received the Finals MVP nod.

Meanwhile, the Codebreakers, MPL PH S12 runner-up, will share the stage anew with Turkey's Fire Flux Esports and Brazil's RRQ Akira in Group B, alongside a wildcard entry.

Up against the Turkish squad, this is the first time Blacklist will deal with them without their star Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" del Rosario, popularly known as Veewise, who both skipped Season 12 to rest.

Payback is what Fire Flux players aim for against Blacklist, with the latter overcoming them in the M4 group stages while playing for the disbanded Incendio Supremacy. This year, FIMP's lineup is still mostly comprised of the Incendio team minus Mehmet Ibrahim Ilgun, also known as Lunar.

Both sides also met in the Mobile Legends: Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2023 Bo5 quarterfinals, with BLCK decimating the then Fire Flux Impunity, 3-0.

READ: Dominant Blacklist International advances to MSC 2023 semifinals at Fire Flux Impunity's expense

Like FIMP, four-time MPL Brazil winner RRQ Akira seeks revenge against Blacklist as the Filipino pro MLBB eliminated them in the first round of M4's knockout stages.

Defending their home court, the Beehive and Codebreakers barge on the journey of claiming the country's fourth consecutive M-series tilt since M2 against 14 other teams worldwide.

The M5 champion also gets the lion's share of the 900,000-dollar prize pool or more than 50 million pesos.

M5 pool preliminaries run from December 2-7 at the EVM Convention Center in Quezon City before the venue shifts to Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila on December 9-17 for the playoffs.

MPL Philippines' talents Mara Aquino and Joseph Charles "Naisou" Rezabek hosted this year's draw, while former EVOS Legends player Gerald "Dlar" Trinchera and RSG Philippines star Jonard "Demonkite" Caranto also took part.

Indonesian teams ONIC Esports and Geek Fam will start their M5 tour in Groups A and D, respectively.

Bannered by Filipino jungler Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol, named Regular Season MVP of MPL Indonesia S12, ONIC Esports might be the biggest thorn to the country's four-peat bid in the M-series as it looks for its first World Championship title.

In MSC 2023, the Yellow Hedgehogs, coached by Filipino and former ONIC Philippines player Paul Denver "Yeb" Miranda, defeated ECHO and Blacklist International for their second crown in the tournament.

Boasting the same team with Kairi and MPL ID Season 12 Finals MVP Nicky Fernando "Kiboy" Pontonuwu, ONIC will face fellow champions SeeYouSoon (MPL Cambodia Autumn) and Triple Esports (MPL Middle East and North Africa Fall) and Liga Latam 2023 second place Bigetron Sons in Group A.

Getting the much-needed support from Filipinos Clarence Jay "Kousei" Camilo (gold lane) and Michael "MP the King" Endino (jungle), SeeYouSoon topped MPL KH to reach the World Championship for the second time.

M-series debutant Triple Esports claimed the MPL MENA Fall 2023 throne to snag the lone M5 slot allocated for the region, while Bigetron Sons will also make their World Championship debut after placing runner-up in Liga Latam behind RRQ Akira.

In Group D, team captain Allen "Baloyskie" Baloy's Geek Fam, alongside compatriot Mark Christian Etcobanez "Markyyyy" Capacio, will go toe-to-toe with the United States of America's TheOhioBrothers, Malaysia's HomeBois, and Russia's Deus Vult.

Baloyskie and Markyyyy brought Geek Fam to their franchise-best second place finish in MPL Indonesia Season 12 as both returned to the world stage after making it there in M3 while suiting up for ONIC Philippines, with Kairi and Yeb – now part of ONIC Esports.

TheOhioBrothers, powered by Filipino gold laner Zia "ZIA" Caluya and experience (EXP) laner Chris Amiel "Mielow" Enobio, qualified for their first M-series after a dominant showing in the North America Challenger Tournament (NACT) Fall 2023, topping two of the three phases then going unbeaten in the playoff round without conceding a game.

Winning their first MPL Malaysia title in Season 12 ensured HomeBois' trip to the Pearl of the Orient after surviving Team SMG in a seven-game finals showdown, 4-3.

Retaining their MLBB Continental Championships (MCC) title, Deus Vult found its way back into the M-series for the fourth time. This 2023, the Russian team will use their original name after getting signed by two different organizations, Unique Devu in M2 and Natus Vincere in M3. From M1-M3, Deus never reached the knockout phase after three consecutive group stage eliminations, amassing a 1-7 win-loss record.

This year's M5 World Championship will feature the first Wildcard Round in tournament history to be held at the JIO Space in Kuala Lumpur on November 23-26, with eight teams vying for the last two spots.

Divided into two groups of four teams, Nepal's 4Merical Esports, Malaysia's Team SMG, Saudi Arabia's Falcon Esports, and Laos' Nightmare Esports composed Group A, while Group B features China's KeepBestGaming, Peru's Imperio E-sport, Mongolia's Team Lilgun, and USA's Umbrella Squad.

The group stage will follow a single round-robin format, with each match to be played in a best-of-three series.

The top two teams per group will advance to the best-of-five crossover matches, with Group A top seed going up against Group B runner-up while the Group B winner plays Group A second place.

Winners of these matchups will qualify for the M5 group stage.

The sixteen competing teams in the M5 World Championship, including the two Wildcard Round winners, are separated into three main pools.

MPL Philippines Season 12 champion and runner-up AP Bren and Blacklist International were with MPL Indonesia Season 12 winner and second place ONIC Esports and Geek Fam in Pool 1.

HomeBois, Triple Esports, SeeYouSoon, Fire Flux Esports, RRQ Akira, Team Flash, Burmese Ghouls, and TheOhioBrothers were in Pool 2.

Bigetron Sons was in Pool 3, alongside DeusVult and the two Wildcard Round teams.
Teams cannot be drawn into the same group if they both come from the same region. Pool 1 and Pool 3 teams cannot also be placed in the same group.

The draw results produce interesting matchups. Most notably, the tussle between M2 grand finalists AP Bren and Burmese Ghouls and Blacklist dealing with RRQ Akira and Fire Flux Esports – two teams the Codebreakers beat in the past international competitions.

A clash of Filipino imports as well as home team up against them are on course, with ONIC Esports' Kairi and Coach Yeb facing SeeYouSoon's Kousei and MP the King in Group A, Pheww's Bren battling Hadess' Team Flash in Group C, and Baloyskie and Markyyyy's Geek Fam and ZIA and Mielow's TheOhioBrothers clashing in Group D.

M5 is the fifth staging of the M-series to take place in the Philippines in December 2023. Changes in the format are applied to make the tournament more competitive and open to all nationalities globally.

Learn more about the upcoming MLBB festivities HERE.