Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup

*Mobile Legends: Bang Bang* Mid Season Cup
Tournament information
Sport	Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Location	Worldwide (2024–present); Regional SEA (2017–2023)
Month played	September (2017); July (2018); June (2019–present)
Established	2017; 7 years ago
Number of; tournaments	7
Administrator	Moonton
Tournament; format(s)	Wildcard stage; Round robin (2024–present); Group stage; Round robin (2018–present); Knockout stage; Double elimination (2017, 2019–2022); Single elimination (2018, 2023–present);
Host(s)	List Jakarta (2017, 2018) ; Manila (2019) ; Cancelled (2020) ; Online Tournament (2021) ; Kuala Lumpur (2022) ; Phnom Penh (2023) ; Riyadh (2024) ;
Participants	8 teams (2017); 10 teams (2018); 12 teams (2019–2023); 23 teams (2024–present);
Website	mcl.mobilelegends.com
Current champion
	Selangor Red Giants (1st title)
Most recent tournament
	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 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang 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.

History

As the Southeast Asia Cup (2017–2023)

Mall Taman Anggrek, the venue for MSC 2017.

The first iteration of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup was held in Indonesia in 2017 during the start of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'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 2–1 in the Upper Bracket but fell to the team in the Grand Finals in a 3–0, 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]

Smart Araneta Coliseum, the venue for MSC 2019.

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 2–1 against co-Indonesian team Louvre Esports to advance to the Grand Finals. Initially, ArkAngel won 2–1 against Vietnam's Overclockers but fell to a 2–0 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]

COVID-19 Pandemic (2020–2021)

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 3–0 win by Blacklist International in the Upper Bracket Finals and a 3–1 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.

Post the COVID-19 pandemic (2021–2023)

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 11–19 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 3–1^[12] and RSG Philippines sending their co-Filipino team Smart Omega home, 3–2.^[13] RSG Philippines retaliated in the Grand Finals and swept the Indonesian champions 4–0 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 10–18 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 3–1 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 4–2. 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.

As the Mid Season Cup (2024–present)

Boulevard City, the expected venue for 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.

Format

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.

Venue

Mall Taman Anggrek atrium used for MSC 2017 main event.

2017 − Mall Taman Anggrek − Jakarta, Indonesia
2018 − JIExpo − Jakarta, Indonesia
2019 − Smart Araneta Coliseum − Manila, Philippines
2022 − MITEC − Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2023 − Aeon Mall Mean Chey − Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2024 − Amazon Arena, Boulevard City − Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Viewership

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]^{[better source needed]}
2018	100,000+	N/A	N/A	^[23]
2019	276,579	68,220	2,887,965	^[24]^{[better source needed]}
2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	2,284,012	514,618	29,461,866	^[25]^{[better source needed]}
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]

Participating teams

MSC 2017

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

References:^[29]

MSC 2018

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 NXL
2 = Formerly known as IDNS SG; Best Singapore team
3 = Formerly known as Team Saiyan; Best Malaysia team
4 = Played as Aether Main

References:^[30]

MSC 2019

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

References:^[31]

MSC 2021

MSC 2021^[32]
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

MSC 2022

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, Vietnam

Reference:^[33]

MSC 2023

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

Reference:^[34]

MSC 2024

Wildcard stage

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 Force¹	MCC S3 runner-up
KeepBest Gaming	China Qualifier 2nd place	IHC Esports	Mongolia Qualifier

Reference:^[35]

Group stage

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	Cloud9²	NACT Spring 2024 champion
Team Spirit¹	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

Reference:^[36]

Notes: 1. ^ For documentary purpose only, according to their majority of players, teams from Commonwealth of Independent States region: Brute Force based in Saudi Arabia and Team Spirit based in Serbia both will represent Russia.; 2. ^ For documentary purpose only, according to their base of operations, team from North America region: Cloud9 will represent United States.

Results

Top four results

Edition	Year	Hosts	Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	No. of teams
Edition	Year	Hosts	Grand final			Third place	Fourth place	No. of teams
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	None ^{[note 1]}	Execration	4–1 ^{[note 2]}	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	Selangor Red Giants	4–3	Falcons AP Bren	Liquid ECHO and NIP Flash ^{[note 3]}		23

Notes

^ Online tournament.
^ Since 2021, Grand final would be held in best-of-seven (BO7) series format.
^ For MSC 2024, Third place match did not held. Semi-finalists are listed in alphabetical order.

Performances by teams

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
SF – Semi-finals
PO – Playoffs
PI – Play-in
GS – Group stage
WC – Wildcard stage
Q – Qualified
• – Did not qualify
× – Did not enter / Withdrew
– Nation hosts

Teams reaching the Top Four by tournament
Team (22)	2017	2018	2019	2021	2022	2023	2024	Times entered	Times qualified	Top Four total
Fnatic ONIC¹	×	×	1st	•	GS	1st	GS	5	4	2
Falcons AP.Bren²	×	1st	PO	•	•	•	2nd	6	3	2
Omega Esports³	×	×	•	1st^[a]	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 International⁴	×	×	•	2nd	•	2nd	•	5	2	2
RRQ Hoshi⁵	×	3rd	•	•	2nd	•	•	6	2	2
Salty Salad	2nd	×	×	×	×	×	×	1	1	1
Cignal Ultra⁶	×	2nd	•	•	×	×	×	3	1	1
Louvre Esports	×	•	2nd	×	×	×	×	2	1	1
Liquid ECHO⁷	×	×	×	•	•	3rd	SF	4	2	2
EVOS Glory⁸	×	GS	•	3rd	•	PO	GS	6	4	1
Solid Gaming Alpha	3rd	×	×	×	×	×	×	1	1	1
ArkAngel	×	×	3rd	•	×	×	×	2	1	1
NIP Flash⁹	×	×	×	×	•	•	SF	3	1	1
EVOS SG¹⁰	4th	×	PO	PO	PO	×	×	4	1	1
Falcon Esports¹¹	×	×	×	×	4th	GS^[b]	PO	3	3	1
Aerowolf Pro Team¹²	×	4th	•	•	×	×	×	3	1	1
OverClockers	×	×	4th	×	×	×	×	1	1	1
RSG Malaysia	×	×	×	4th	•	•	•	4	1	1
Team Flash KH¹³	×	×	×	×	•	4th	•	3	1	1
Team (22)	2017	2018	2019	2021	2022	2023	2024	Times entered	Times qualified	Top Four total

Notes: 1. ^ Includes result playing as ONIC Esports during 2019–2023.; 2. ^ Includes result playing as Aether Main during 2018 and Bren Esports during 2019–2023.; 3. ^ Includes result playing as Execration during 2019–2021.; 4. ^ Includes result playing as EVOS Esports PH during 2019.; 5. ^ Includes result playing as RRQ.O2 during 2018 and PSG.RRQ during 2019.; 6. ^ Includes result playing as Digital Devils Pro Gaming during 2018.; 7. ^ Includes result playing as ECHO Philippines during 2023.; 8. ^ Includes result playing as EVOS Esports during 2018–2019 and EVOS Legends during 2021–2023.; 9. ^ Includes result playing as Team Flash during 2022–2023.; 10. ^ Includes result playing as Impunity during 2017.; 11. ^ Includes result playing as Fenix Esports during 2023.; 12. ^ Includes result playing as Aerowolf Roxy during 2018–2019.; 13. ^ Includes result playing as BURN x FLASH during 2022–2023.; [a]. ^ For MSC 2021, Omega Esports did not qualify. Omega Esports acquired the roster of Execration on 12 July 2021.^[37]; [b]. ^ For MSC 2023, Falcon Esports did not qualify. Falcon Esports acquired the roster of Fenix Esports on 10 July 2023.^[38]

Performances by nations