Who are the teams competing in Mobile Legends’ M5 World Championship?

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s M World Championship is mobile esports’ biggest international event, with the competition regularly recording viewership figures in the millions. 

The M5 World Championship aims to maintain, if not surpass, the competition’s previous editions which have grown in popularity with every event. For example, M4 recorded a peak viewership figure of 4.27m.

Mobile Legends’ season-ending event has undergone a lot of changes since its last edition earlier in the year. Firstly the event is taking place in two locations following the introduction of a WildCard Stage. Both Malaysia (WildCard) and Indonesia (Main Stage) will feature M5 action. Moreover, China will field a representative in the competition for the first time.

With the WildCard Stage concluded, all eyes head towards Indonesia, with some of mobile esports’ biggest organisations competing for the M5 Trophy. But which organisations are involved? This article provides a rundown of M5 World Championships competitors, providing a brief history of the organisations involved along the way. 

Founded by Bernard ‘Bren’ Chong in 2017, AP.Bren is a Philippines-based esports organisation that has major ties to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang ecosystem. The organisation, under the name BREN Esports, won the M2 World Championship and was recently crowned MPL Philippines Season 12 champion. 

Outside of competitive Mobile Legends, the organisation underwent a number of changes. This included BREN Esports being rebranded to AP.Bren following Aces Pro Corp’s purchase of the organisation in July 2023. From 2020 to 2022, the organisation also had a stint in VALORANT. 

Owned by Southeast Asian esports and video gaming agency Tier One Entertainment, Blacklist International is also another former winner of Mobile Legends’ World Championship. After claiming the M3 World Championship, the organisation also finished runner-up in the competition’s M4 World Championship.

Over the last 12 months, Blacklist has looked to expand its presence in esports. Notably, this is through joint ventures with esports bookmaker Rivalry and G2 Esports to enter Dota 2 and WildRift respectively.

Based in Myanmar, Burmese Ghouls entered the esports scene in 2016 and has gone on to become one of the biggest esports organisations in the Southeast Asian country. In Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Burmese Ghouls’ highest-place finish is being the runner up at the M2 World Championship. The organisation also won MPL Myanmar an impressive four out of five seasons prior to the league being discontinued due to the 2021 Myanmar coup d’état.

That same year Burmese Ghouls disbanded due to the conflict. However, the organisation, which has a following of over 1m on Facebook, made its return to Mobile Legends: Bang Bang this year and subsequently qualified for the M5 World Championship.

Bigetron Sons is the Brazilian division of Indonesian esports organisation Bigetron Esports. The organisation qualified for the M5 World Championship through Liga Latam 2023, an MLBB competition for the Latin America region.

The organisation’s main team competes in MPL Indonesia, one of Mobile Legends’ franchised competitions. Moreover, Bigetron has competitive esports divisions in other mobile-focused games such as Free Fire and PUBG: Mobile.

Deus Vult is an unsigned Russian team that qualified for the event by winning CIS-focused competition the MLBB Continental Championships. The roster has competed in four M World Championships, with M2 and M3 seeing the team represent Team Unique and NAVI, respectively. 

Representing Europe is Turkish esports organisation Fire Flux Esports. The organisation is a relative newcomer to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang scene having acquired players from  Incendio Supremacy in early 2023. 

The organisation qualified for the M5 World Championship through the MTC Turkiye Championship. Outside of Mobile Legends, Fire Flux Esports has a regional VALORANT Challengers roster and a notable PUBG: Mobile roster that competed in last year’s World Championship.

Geek Fam’s Indonesian mobile legends division was first founded in 2019. However, the division’s highest accolade only occurred earlier this year, placing second in MPL Indonesia Season 12, the ecosystem’s most popular regional league. 

Outside of Mobile Legends, Geek Fam has operated a Dota 2 roster since 2016, whilst also housing rosters in PUBG Mobile and Free Fire. Earlier in the year, the Malaysian-based organisation briefly renamed to Geek Slate following a partnership with Avium, however, this deal unexpectedly ended in July.

Malaysian esports organisation HomeBois qualified for the M5 World Championship by winning MPL Malaysia Season 12, the organisation’s first title since its debut in 2020.

According to GosuGamers, HomeBois was originally a production team for Team Basskurr, a Malaysian esports organisation that was co-founded by HomeBois’ owner Nureddy ‘DaddyHood’ Nursal. Alongside Mobile Legends, the organisation also operates a PUBG Mobile roster.

In recent years, ONIC Esports has become a powerhouse in the Mobile Legends ecosystem, despite never winning a World Championship. The organisation won both seasons of 2023’s MPL Indonesia whilst also claiming this year’s MLBB Southeast Asia Cup, the ecosystem’s second-largest competition. 

Since its foundation in 2018, the organisation has largely made a name for itself in Mobile Legends, however, it does have rosters in PUBG Mobile and Free Fire. Moreover, ONIC recently had a notable Apex Legends esports division which competed at this year’s ALGS Championship before its disbandment.

RRQ Akira is the Brazilian Mobile Legends division of Southeast Asian goliath Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ). Alongside its Brazilian team, the organisation holds Mobile Legends rosters in the Philippines and Indonesia, with the latter division housing male and female teams. 

The organisation’s main Indonesian team has collected four MPL titles, meanwhile, RRQ Akira has won the last four MPL Brazil seasons in a row.

Last year, the organisation was named a partner team for the VALORANT Champions Tour, joining the ecosystem’s Pacific league. Alongside VALORANT, RRQ has competitive teams in PUBG Mobile and Free Fire. 

Representing Cambodia, See You Soon first entered Mobile Legends in 2020 and has been a part of the scene since the country’s official MPL league began. The organisation has competed in some of the esports ecosystem’s major international events, including the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2022, M3 World Championship and this year’s event. 

Team Flash is a major multi-title Southeast Asian esports organisation that competes in a range of mobile and PC titles. This includes the Brawl Stars and Arena of Valor ecosystem, as well as League of Legends’ VCS (Vietnam Championship Series). Recently the organisation also announced its expansion into VALORANT. 

The organisation qualified for the event after winning MPL Singapore season 6. Alongside its Singapore-based team, Team Flash has a co-owned Cambodian Mobile Legends team in partnership with Burn Gaming. Interestingly, Team Flash has a partnership with Vietnamese football club Hai Phong FC.

Triple Esports is another newcomer to the Mobile Legends esports ecosystem, with the Saudi Arabian esports organisation only joining the scene in August 2023. Despite that, the organisation won the most recent MPL MENA in its first attempt to qualify for the M5 World Championship.

Outside of Mobile Legends, the organisation fielded a regional Overwatch roster from 2022 to 2023 whilst also competing in titles such as VALORANT, League of Legends and Fortnite.

Representing North America is TheOhioBrothers, an unsigned team that qualified after winning the NACT Fall 2023. Previously, the team was signed to North American esports organisation Outplay until earlier this year. 

Founded in 2017 by Chinese pop singer Lin Junjie, Team SMG is an Asian esports organisation that has a Mobile Legends team competing in Malaysia. Up until recently the organisation also had a team in Singapore until its disbandment earlier this year. Despite joining MPL Malaysia in Season 5, the organisation has only claimed one MPL title (Season 8) and recently finished second in Season 12 to qualify.

Most of the organisation’s notable successes have come from its other esports operations, in particular VALORANT and PUBG Mobile. The organisation’s Peacekeeper Elite (PUBG Mobile in China) franchise won the country’s top competition in 2022, before being acquired by English football club Wolves by the end of that year. Moreover, Team SMG’s VALORANT side recently finished 4th in the 2023 Game Changers Championship.

Team Lilgun is a Mongolian-based esports organisation that was founded in 2021 but only recently entered the Mobile Legends esports scene in 2023. Team Lilgun predominantly practises its trade in the Dota 2 esports scene, regularly competing in the lower divisions of the SEA Dota Pro Circuit up until late 2023.

Alongside Team SMG, Team Lilgun qualified for the M5 World Championship Main Stage through Mobile Legends’ Wildcard Stage.