Sport: | |
Location: | Worldwide (2024–present) Regional SEA (2017–2023) |
Number: | 7 |
Month Played: | September (2017) July (2018) June (2019–present) |
Administrator: | Moonton |
Current Champion: | Selangor Red Giants (1st title) |
Current: | MSC 2024 |
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup, (previously known as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup) referred to as MSC, is an annual international tournament for professional esport teams for the MOBA game hosted by Moonton in the middle of years, since 2017.
On 1 January 2024, Moonton announced the rebranding of the formerly SEA-based tournament, "Southeast Asia Cup" to the "Mid Season Cup" as the first international tournament before the second leg of MLBB professional leagues.[1] The Mid Season Cup will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This year saw the introduction of the wildcard format, which will bring in eight international teams to fight for a slot in the group stage happening in July.
Malaysia's Selangor Red Giants won the most recent edition of the tournament in 2024, defeating Falcons AP Bren, 4–3.
The first iteration of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup was held in Indonesia in 2017 during the start of 's growth into the mainstream gaming scene. A total of eight participating teams qualified in MSC 2017, two from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia while one team qualifying from Thailand and Singapore. No group stage was held for MSC 2017 and a direct playoff, double-elimination bracket was staged for the eight participating teams. The Philippines' Salty Salad advanced to the Grand Finals after defeating Thailand's IDONOTSLEEP 21 in the Upper Bracket but fell to the team in the Grand Finals in a 30, hailing Thailand the first MSC Cup champions.[2] [3]
The second iteration of the Southeast Asia Cup remained in Indonesia for 2018 and this was during the time the inaugural MPL seasons have been held in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Defending champions IDONOTSLEEP, Myanmar's Burmese Ghouls and Vietnam's Fantasy Main all qualified through regional qualifiers meanwhile, the Philippines, Indonesia and the combined league for Malaysia and Singapore sent its champions and runner-up to the tournament. MSC 2018 is the first tournament in the MSC scene to have a Group Stage with both Filipino squads topping the seeds. Only the top 2 teams from both groups qualifies to the playoff bracket. MSC 2018 saw the first Philippines vs. Philippines final and a rematch of the MPL Philippines Season 1 grand finals between Aether Main and Digital Devils Pro with Aether Main sweeping DD in the Grand Finals.[4] MSC 2019 was held in the Philippines for the first time and from 10 teams, the participating teams grew to 12. The roster of the defending champions Aether Main qualified under the organization of Bren Esports.[5] MSC 2019 became the first tournament in MSC history to have an Indonesia vs. Indonesia Grand Finals. ONIC Esports swept MSC 2017 champions IDONOTSLEEP in the Upper Bracket Semifinals and won 21 against co-Indonesian team Louvre Esports to advance to the Grand Finals. Initially, ArkAngel won 21 against Vietnam's Overclockers but fell to a 20 sweep from Louvre, eliminating the Philippines' champions from the tournament.[6] ONIC Esports won Indonesia its first MSC title since the tournament was established.[7]
The COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 following the sudden growth and spread of the virus around the world, especially in Southeast Asia where Mobile Legends' primary players were located. Majority of the Governments of Southeast Asia including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore shut and closed its countries from foreign visitors and tightened border security and patrol. In May 2020, game developers Moonton have announced the cancellation of MSC 2020 in order to comply with the "laws set to fight against the pandemic."[8]
Following the easing of restrictions in the region, MSC 2021 became the first iteration of MSC following the 2020 iteration's cancellation. Twelve teams participated in the online tournament with four teams in Cybe EXE, IDONOTSLEEP, Impunity KH and Nightmare Esports being directly invited to compete. MSC 2021 saw the resurgence in the Philippines' dominance in Mobile Legends, having an all Filipino grand finals after a 30 win by Blacklist International in the Upper Bracket Finals and a 31 win by Execration in the Lower Bracket Finals against Indonesia's EVOS Legends.[9] [10] Execration won MSC 2021 and won the title for the Philippines since 2018.
See also: MSC 2023. MSC 2022 and MSC 2023 were the first two iterations of the tournaments to feature a live audience since the COVID-19 pandemic's easing of restrictions from hosts Malaysia and Cambodia, respectively.
MSC 2022 was hosted in Malaysia for the first time since the MLBB M1 World Championships were held in the region in 2019. MSC 2022 featured twelve teams from seven different regions with Myanmar returning to the international stage. Myanmar representatives were abruptly halted from leaving and participating from international tournaments of any Esports discipline due to the ongoing Myanmar civil war.[11] Falcon Esports were able to qualify through the regional qualifiers against other amateur and pro teams including Burmese Ghouls. The tournament ran from 1119 June 2022 with the group stage and the playoff brackets. In the Grand Finals, the Philippines and Indonesia matched up for the first time in history with RRQ Hoshi besting RSG Philippines in the Upper Bracket Finals 31[12] and RSG Philippines sending their co-Filipino team Smart Omega home, 32.[13] RSG Philippines retaliated in the Grand Finals and swept the Indonesian champions 40 to bring the Philippines its unprecedented third MSC title.[14]
MSC 2023 was hosted in Phnom Penh in Cambodia for the first time.[15] Twelve teams were slated to participate in the tournament with representations from Malaysia and Singapore dropping from 2 to 1 in lieu for newer regions. This iteration of MSC was particularly interesting for many as it introduced the MENA, North American, and Turkish regions participating for the first time in MSC.[16] Also, Laos were able to win the Mekong qualifiers against Vietnamese and Thai teams. The tournament ran from 1018 June 2023 with the Group Stage and the Playoff Brackets. This iteration of the tournament featured a single-elimination bracket and a third-place matcher between the two eliminated teams in the Semifinals.
In the Grand Finals, Indonesia's ONIC Esports faced off the Philippines' Blacklist International. ONIC swept tournament favorites and then-defending world champions ECHO Philippines in the semifinals.[17] Moreover, Blacklist International defeated hometown team BURN x FLASH 31 in the semifinals.[18] This Grand Finals would be the second appearance for both teams, ONIC Esports appearing and winning MSC 2019 while Blacklist International were the runner-up team during MSC 2021. ONIC Esports bested Blacklist International in the Grand Finals, winning the series 42. This marked the first title for the indonesian organizations' imports in Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol and Head Coach Denver "Yeb" Miranda.[19] This was the first major international tournament that Indonesia has won following their array of defeats in the M2, M3 and M4 World Championships, and the 2021 and 2022 MSC iterations.
See main article: MSC 2024. MSC 2024 will be the first tournament bearing the rebranded name "Mid Season Cup". This iteration of the tournament is significant because it will be the first tournament outside of the Southeast Asian region, being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first iteration of the tournament to be part of the 2024 Esports World Cup, and having the largest prize pool for any MLBB international and regional tournament with a prize purse of US$3,000,000.00.[20]
The Defending MSC champions Fnatic ONIC failed to defend their title in MSC 2024 due to their one-game loss to Malaysia's Selangor Red Giants. MSC 2024 was the first MSC tournament to not feature any Indonesian teams in the Knockout and Playoff stages. Selangor Red Giants won Malaysia its first MSC and international trophy after defeating the Philippines' Falcons AP Bren in seven games.
Two teams from Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional Leagues (MPL) in different Southeast Asian countries are invited to MSC. For countries without MPL, local qualifiers are hosted. The tournaments start with a group stage where teams fight for the spot in the upper bracket through the best of 3 round robin. Teams winning the best of 3 in the group stage get the spot in the upper bracket. The other two teams compete on play-ins where the winning team gets to the lower bracket and the losing team is eliminated. After the group stage is the tournament proper. Losing teams from the upper bracket are demoted to the lower bracket while losing teams from the lower bracket are eliminated. One finalist will come from each bracket and compete in the Grand Finals.[21] From 2017 to 2019, the Grand Finals are played in best of 5, but since the 2021 version, it is played in best of 7.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup is streamed live on Facebook Gaming, TikTok and YouTube.
Year | Peak Viewers | Average Viewers | Hours Watched | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Southeast Asia Cup | ||||
2017 | 53,837 | 20,102 | 353,451 | [22] |
2018 | 100,000+ | N/A | N/A | [23] |
2019 | 276,579 | 68,220 | 2,887,965 | [24] |
2020 | ||||
2021 | 2,284,012 | 514,618 | 29,461,866 | [25] |
2022 | 2,800,606 | 477,042 | 35,181,778 | [26] |
2023 | 3,650,305 | 659,399 | 40,552,979 | [27] |
Mid Season Cup | ||||
2024 | 2,383,016 | 406,594 | 29,139,183 | [28] |
Five-Nations Finals | ||
---|---|---|
Team | Seed | |
Team Saiyan | MSC 2017 Malaysia Winner | |
MYA JR | MSC 2017 Malaysia Runner-Up | |
Solid Gaming Alpha | MSC 2017 Philippines Winner | |
Salty Salad | MSC 2017 Philippines Runner-Up | |
Saints Indo | MSC 2017 Indonesia Winner | |
Elite8 Esports | MSC 2017 Indonesia Runner-Up | |
IDNS | MSC 2017 Thailand Winner | |
Impunity | MSC 2017 Singapore Winner |
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Aerowolf Roxy1 | MPL-ID S1 Winner | Bren Esports4 | MPL-PH S1 Winner | |
Bigetron Singapore2 | MPL-MY/SG S1 Winner | EVOS Esports | MPL-ID S1 Runner-Up | |
AirAsia Saiyan3 | MPL-MY/SG S1 4th Place | RRQ.O2 | MPL-ID S1 3rd Place | |
Digital Devils Pro Gaming | MPL-PH S1 Runner-Up | IDNS | Thailand Local Qualifiers | |
Burmese Ghouls | Myanmar Local Qualifiers | Fantasy Main | Vietnam Local Qualifiers |
1 = Formerly known as Team NXLReferences:[30]2 = Formerly known as IDNS SG; Best Singapore team
3 = Formerly known as Team Saiyan; Best Malaysia team
4 = Played as Aether Main
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Geek Fam | MPL-MY/SG S3 Winner | ArkAngel | MPL-PH S3 Winner | |
Bren Esports | MPL-PH S3 Runner-Up | EVOS.SG | MPL-MY/SG S3 Runner-Up | |
IDNS | Thailand Local Qualifiers | Overclockers | Vietnam Local Qualifiers | |
Group C | Group D | |||
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Team Resolution | MPL-MM S2 Winner | ONIC Esports | MPL-ID S3 Winner | |
Louvre Esports | MPL-ID S3 Runner-Up | Burmese Ghouls | MPL-MM S2 Runner-Up | |
Diversity Helheim | Cambodia Local Qualifiers | WAWA Gaming | Laos Local Qualifiers |
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
RSG Malaysia | MPL-MY S7 Champion | EVOS Legends | MPL-ID S7 Champion | |
RSG Singapore | MPL-SG S1 Runner-Up | Todak | MPL-MY S7 Runner-Up | |
IDoNoSleep | Thailand Local Qualifiers | Cyber EXE | Vietnam Local Qualifiers | |
Group C | Group D | |||
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Blacklist International | MPL-PH S7 Champion | EVOS SG | MPL-SG S1 Champion | |
Bigetron Alpha | MPL-ID S7 Runner-Up | Execration | MPL-PH S7 Runner-Up | |
Impunity KH | Cambodia Local Qualifiers | Nightmare Esports | Laos Local Qualifiers |
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
TODAK | MPL-MY S9 Champion | RSG Philippines | MPL-PH S9 Champion | |
Falcon Esports | Myanmar Qualifier Champion | See You Soon | MPL-KH Spring 2022 Runner-Up | |
ONIC Esports | MPL-ID S9 Runner-Up | RSG Singapore | MPL-SG S3 Champion | |
Group C | Group D | |||
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
RRQ Hoshi | MPL-ID S9 Champion | Impunity KH | MPL-KH Spring 2022 Champion | |
IDONOTSLEEP | Mekong1 Qualifier Champion | Orange Esports | MPL-MY S9 Runner-Up | |
Omega Esports | MPL-PH S9 Runner-Up | EVOS SG | MPL-SG S3 Runner-Up |
1 = Laos, Thailand, VietnamReference:[33]
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
ECHO Philippines | MPL-PH S11 Champion | RSG Slate Singapore | MPL-SG S5 Champion | |
Fire Flux Impunity | MTC-Turkiye S1 Champion | EVOS Legends | MPL-ID S11 Runner-Up | |
Team EVO | Mekong Qualifier | Fenix Esports | Myanmar Qualifier | |
Group C | Group D | |||
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
ONIC Esports | MPL-ID S11 Champion | Blacklist International | MPL-PH S11 Runner-Up | |
BURN x FLASH | MPL-KH Spring Champion | TODAK | MPL-MY S11 Champion | |
Outplay(TOB) | NACT Spring 2023 Runner-Up | Team Occupy | MPL-MENA Spring 2023 Champion |
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Zino Zenith | MCCM S3 champion | Trained to Kill | MCB S3 champion | |
S2G Esports | MTC S3 runner-up | HomeBois | MPL MY S13 runner-up | |
Entity7 | MPL LATAM S1 runner-up | Brute Force | MCC S3 runner-up | |
KeepBest Gaming | China Qualifier 2nd place | IHC Esports | Mongolia Qualifier |
Group A | Group B | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
NIP Flash | MPL SG S7 champion | Fnatic ONIC | MPL ID S13 champion | |
Fire Flux Esports | MTC S3 champion | Selangor Red Giants | MPL MY S13 champion | |
RRQ Akira | MPL LATAM S1 champion | See You Soon | MPL KH S6 champion | |
EVOS Glory | MPL ID S13 runner-up | Team Falcons | MPL MENA S5 champion | |
Group C | Group D | |||
Team | Seed | Team | Seed | |
Liquid ECHO | MPL PH S13 champion | Cloud9 | NACT Spring 2024 champion | |
Team Spirit | MCC S3 champion | Falcons AP Bren | MPL PH S13 runner-up | |
Twisted Minds | MPL MENA S5 runner-up | Xianyou Gaming | China Qualifier 1st place | |
HomeBois | Wildcard stage | Falcon Esports | Myanmar Qualifier |
Edition | Year | Hosts | Grand final | Third place | Fourth place | No. of teams | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
width=150 style="background:gold;" | Champions | width=50 | Score | width=150 style="background:silver" | Runners-up | ||||||||
Southeast Asia Cup | |||||||||||||
1 | 2017 | Indonesia | IDONOTSLEEP | 3–0 | Salty Salad | Solid Gaming Alpha | Impunity | 8 | |||||
2 | 2018 | Indonesia | Aether Main | 3–0 | Digital Devils Pro Gaming | RRQ.O2 | Aerowolf Roxy | 10 | |||||
3 | 2019 | Philippines | ONIC Esports | 3–0 | Louvre Esports | ArkAngel | OverClockers | 12 | |||||
2020 | Cancelled because of COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||||
4 | 2021 | Execration | 4–1 | Blacklist International | EVOS Legends | RSG Malaysia | 12 | ||||||
5 | 2022 | Malaysia | RSG Philippines | 4–0 | RRQ Hoshi | Omega Esports | Falcon Esports | 12 | |||||
6 | 2023 | Cambodia | ONIC Esports | 4–2 | Blacklist International | ECHO Philippines | BURN x FLASH | 12 | |||||
Mid Season Cup | |||||||||||||
7 | 2024 | Saudi Arabia | < | --for TBD: increase rowspan by +1--> | Selangor Red Giants | 4–3 | Falcons AP Bren | --for TBD: increase rowspan by +1--> | Liquid ECHO and NIP Flash | --for TBD: increase rowspan by +1--> | 23 |
Legend
Team (22) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Times entered | Times qualified | Top Four total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fnatic ONIC | × | × | 1st | • | GS | 1st | GS | 5 | 4 | 2 | |
Falcons AP.Bren | × | 1st | PO | • | • | • | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
Omega Esports | × | × | • | 1st | 3rd | • | • | 5 | 2 | 2 | |
IDONOTSLEEP | 1st | GS | PO | PI | GS | • | × | 6 | 5 | 1 | |
RSG Philippines | × | × | × | × | 1st | • | • | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
Selangor Red Giants | × | × | × | × | × | • | 1st | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
Blacklist International | × | × | • | 2nd | • | 2nd | • | 5 | 2 | 2 | |
RRQ Hoshi | × | 3rd | • | • | 2nd | • | • | 6 | 2 | 2 | |
Salty Salad | 2nd | × | × | × | × | × | × | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Cignal Ultra | × | 2nd | • | • | × | × | × | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
Louvre Esports | × | • | 2nd | × | × | × | × | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
Liquid ECHO | × | × | × | • | • | 3rd | SF | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
EVOS Glory | × | GS | • | 3rd | • | PO | GS | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
Solid Gaming Alpha | 3rd | × | × | × | × | × | × | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
ArkAngel | × | × | 3rd | • | × | × | × | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
NIP Flash | × | × | × | × | • | • | SF | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
EVOS SG | 4th | × | PO | PO | PO | × | × | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
Falcon Esports | × | × | × | × | 4th | GS | PO | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
Aerowolf Pro Team | × | 4th | • | • | × | × | × | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
OverClockers | × | × | 4th | × | × | × | × | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
RSG Malaysia | × | × | × | 4th | • | • | • | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
Team Flash KH | × | × | × | × | • | 4th | • | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
Team (22) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Times entered | Times qualified | Top Four total |
Legend
Nation (19) | 2017 (8) | 2018 (10) | 2019 (12) | 2021 (12) | 2022 (12) | 2023 (12) | 2024 (23) | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Indonesia | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 15 | |
Philippines | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 | |
Malaysia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
Singapore | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
Myanmar | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
Cambodia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
Thailand | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
United States | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
China | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
Egypt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
Brazil | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Mongolia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Nepal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Peru | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Nation (19) | (8) 2017 | (10) 2018 | (12) 2019 | (12) 2021 | (12) 2022 | (12) 2023 | (23) 2024 | Total |
Nation (19) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Times entered | Times qualified | Top Four total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philippines | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
Indonesia | PO | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | GS | 7 | 7 | 5 | |
Malaysia | PO | GS | PO | 4th | PO | PO | 1st | 7 | 7 | 2 | |
Thailand | 1st | GS | PO | PI | GS | • | • | 7 | 5 | 1 | |
Singapore | 4th | GS | PO | PO | PO | PO | SF | 7 | 7 | 2 | |
Myanmar | × | GS | PI | × | 4th | GS | PO | 5 | 5 | 1 | |
× | GS | 4th | PI | • | • | WC | 6 | 4 | 1 | ||
Cambodia | × | × | PI | PO | GS | 4th | PO | 5 | 5 | 1 | |
Turkey | × | × | × | × | × | PO | PO | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
× | × | PI | PI | • | GS | • | 5 | 3 | 0 | ||
United States | × | × | × | × | × | GS | GS | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
Egypt | × | × | × | × | × | GS | • | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
Saudi Arabia | × | × | × | × | × | • | GS | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
Brazil | × | × | × | × | × | × | GS | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
China | × | × | × | × | × | × | GS | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
× | × | × | × | × | × | GS | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
Mongolia | × | × | × | × | × | × | WC | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
Nepal | × | × | × | × | × | × | WC | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
Peru | × | × | × | × | × | × | WC | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
Nation (19) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Times entered | Times qualified | Top Four total |
Teams from these nations have gone through qualifications that lead to MSC, but failed to qualify.
Nation (12) | 2023 | 2024 | Attempts | |
---|---|---|---|---|
• | • | 2 | ||
Kuwait | • | • | 2 | |
• | • | 2 | ||
Iraq | • | × | 1 | |
Jordan | • | × | 1 | |
Argentina | × | • | 1 | |
Bangladesh | × | • | 1 | |
Bhutan | × | • | 1 | |
× | • | 1 | ||
Kazakhstan | × | • | 1 | |
Mexico | × | • | 1 | |
Ukraine | × | • | 1 | |
Nation (12) | 2023 | 2024 | Attempts |