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.
 Official logo of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2024 | |
| 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 |
Number of tournaments | 6 |
| Administrator | Moonton |
Tournament format(s) |
|
| Host(s) | |
| Participants |
|
| Website | mcl.mobilelegends.com |
| Current champion | |
 ONIC Esports (2nd title) | |
| Most recent tournament | |
| MSC 2023 | |
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 is the newly-internationalized tournament with teams from varying regions participating, and will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This year saw the introduction of the Wild Card format, which will bring in eight international teams to fight for a slot in the Group Stage happening in July.
Indonesia's ONIC Esports won the most recent edition of the tournament in 2023, defeating Blacklist International, 4–2.[2]
History edit
Southeast Asia Cup (2017–2023) edit
MSC 2017 edit
The first season of MSC started on 1 September 2017 and was held in Jakarta, Indonesia,[3] at Mall Taman Anggrek venue.[4] It is a 3-day event with 8 teams from 5 countries: Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and a total prize pool of $100,000.[5] IDoNotSleep (IDNS), an esports team based in Thailand were crowned as the champion.[6] MSC 2017 used a qualification system in determining the finalists.[7][8]
MSC 2018 edit
The second year of MSC took off on 27 to 29 July 2018 and was held again at Jakarta, Indonesia with a similar prize pool of $100,000. MSC 2018 did not use a qualification system but started to invite teams from countries with established Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional Leagues (MPL). 10 teams were invited from 7 countries: Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.[9] IDNS, a competing team, reported technical issues during the tournament where the game casts skills without player input. Moonton put out a notice for a rematch but took it down and no rematch occurred.[10] Regardless of the technical difficulties, Aether Main – a Philippines based team – won the championship.[11]
MSC 2019 edit
The third year of MSC 2019 was held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines from 19 to 23 June 2019. There were a total of 12 teams from 9 countries in Southeast Asia. The nine countries that took part were Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam with a total prize pool of US$120,000.[12] ONIC Esports - a team based in Indonesia were crowned as champions after defeating fellow Indonesian based team Louvre Esports in the Grand Finals. This marked the 1st MSC Champions title for Indonesia.
MSC 2020 edit
On 11 May 2020, Moonton announced that the 2020 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup was officially canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] Moonton explained that due to international travel limitations, and local government regulations about COVID-19, the events were impossible to be held.[14] Hereby, Moonton planned to conduct alternative esports events in each participating MSC country respectively.[14]
MSC 2021 edit
The 2021 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup, would be held virtually from 7 to 9 June 2021 for the Group Stages, and from 11 to 13 June 2021 for the Playoffs.[15] At the Grand Finals, two Philippines based teams, Blacklist International and Execration, reigned supreme and battled it out at for the title in the first best of 7 series ever in the history of Mobile Legends. The title went to Execration,[16] winning $150,000 and gave the Philippines its 2nd MSC Champions title.
MSC 2022 edit
The 2022 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 11 to 19 June 2022. Twelve teams from nine countries participated in the championship with a total prize pool of $300,000. At the Grand Finals, RSG Philippines and RRQ Hoshi fought to win the championship. RSG Philippines swept RRQ Hoshi 4 to 0 and were deemed the Champions of the 2022 MSC (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup) and gave the Philippines its 3rd MSC Title, currently the most out of any country playing for MLBB.[17]
MSC 2023 edit
The 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup was held in Cambodia from 10 to 18 June 2023. Twelve teams from ten countries participated in the championship with a total prize pool of $300,000. At the grand finals, ONIC Esports of Indonesia won Blacklist International of the Philippines.[18]
Mid Season Cup (2024–present) edit
MSC 2024 edit
The upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup will be the first of its editions after rebranding the tournament. During the rebranding announcement, it was confirmed that MSC 2024 will be held outside of SEA (Southeast Asia), the first MSC tournament to be held outside of Southeast Asia.[1] It would later be announced that the tournament would be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of the Saudi-financed Esports World Cup.[19]
Format edit
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.[20] 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 edit
- 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 − TBA − Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Viewership edit
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 | [21][better source needed] |
| 2018 | 100,000+ | N/A | N/A | [22] |
| 2019 | 276,579 | 68,220 | 2,887,965 | [23][better source needed] |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
| |||
| 2021 | 2,284,012 | 514,618 | 29,461,866 | [24][better source needed] |
| 2022 | 2,800,606 | 477,042 | 35,181,778 | [25] |
| 2023 | 3,650,305 | 659,399 | 40,552,979 | [26] |
| Mid Season Cup | ||||
| 2024 | TBD | |||
Participating teams edit
MSC 2017 edit
| 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:[27]
MSC 2018 edit
| Group A | Group B | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Seed | Team | Seed |
| Aerowolf Roxy1
|
MPL-ID S1 Winner | Bren Esports4
|
MPL-PH S1 Winner |
| Bigetron Esports2
|
MPL-MY/SG S1 Winner | EVOS Esports
|
MPL-ID S1 Runner-Up |
| AirAsia Saiyan3
|
MPL-MY/SG S1 Runner-Up | 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
3 = Formerly known as Team Saiyan
4 = Played as Aether Main
References:[28]
MSC 2019 edit
| 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:[29]
MSC 2021 edit
| 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 |
References:[30]
MSC 2022 edit
| 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:[31]
MSC 2023 edit
| 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:[32]
Results edit
| Edition | Year | Hosts | Grand Final | Third place | Fourth place | No. of teams | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | 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 | 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
|
TBD | TBD | 23 | ||||||
- Notes
- ^ Online tournament.
- ^ Since 2021, Grand Final would be held in best-of-seven (BO7) series format.
Performances by teams edit
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Top Four Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONIC Esports
|
2 (2019, 2023) | 2 | |||
| IDoNotSleep
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| Bren Esports1
|
1 (2018) | 1 | |||
| Execration
|
1 (2021) | 1 | |||
| RSG Philippines
|
1 (2022) | 1 | |||
| Blacklist International
|
2 (2021, 2023) | 2 | |||
| Salty Salad
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| Digital Devils Pro Gaming
|
1 (2018) | 1 | |||
| Louvre Esports
|
1 (2019) | 1 | |||
| RRQ Hoshi2
|
1 (2022) | 1 (2018*) | 2 | ||
| Solid Gaming Alpha
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| ArkAngel
|
1 (2019*) | 1 | |||
| EVOS Legends
|
1 (2021) | 1 | |||
| Omega Esports
|
1 (2022) | 1 | |||
| ECHO Philippines
|
1 (2023) | 1 | |||
| Impunity
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| Aerowolf Roxy
|
1 (2018*) | 1 | |||
| OverClockers
|
1 (2019) | 1 | |||
| RSG Malaysia
|
1 (2021) | 1 | |||
| Falcon Esports
|
1 (2022) | 1 | |||
| Burn x Flash
|
1 (2023*) | 1 |
- Notes
- * Nation hosts.
- 1. ^ Includes result playing as Aether Main during 2018.
- 2. ^ Includes result playing as RRQ.O2 during 2018.
Performances by nations edit
Champions Runner-up Third Place Fourth Place Playoffs Play-in Group Stage
| Team | Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Top Four Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philippines
|
3 (2018, 2021, 2022) | 4 (2017, 2018, 2021, 2023) | 4 (2017, 2019*, 2022, 2023) | 11 | |
| Indonesia
|
2 (2019, 2023) | 2 (2019, 2022) | 2 (2018*, 2021) | 1 (2018*) | 7 |
| Thailand
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| Singapore
|
1 (2017) | 1 | |||
| Vietnam
|
1 (2019) | 1 | |||
| Malaysia
|
1 (2021) | 1 | |||
| Myanmar
|
1 (2022) | 1 | |||
| Cambodia
|
1 (2023*) | 1 |
- Notes
- * Hosts.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "MLBB: MSC rebrands as Mid-Season Cup; to be held outside SEA in 2024". news.abs-cbn.com. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ "ONIC Esports take Mobile Legends SEA Cup 2023, end two-year Filipino dominance". Yahoo News. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ^ Goenawan, Muhammad Alif (1 September 2017). "MSC 2017: Indonesia Takluk dari Thailand dan Singapura" [MSC 2017: Indonesia Defeats to Thailand and Singapore]. detikInet (in Indonesian). detik.com. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
- ^ Joyoadikusumo, Ananto (10 June 2021). "The Success Story of Moonton and Mobile Legends in Indonesia". Hybrid.co.id. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ Sadang, Kim Earlie (1 September 2017). "'Mobile Legends: Bang Bang' MSC finals are ongoing". Blasting News US. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ Angelline, Michelle (4 September 2017). "MSC Grand Champion Winner". Eternal Organizer. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Globe Holds First-Ever Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup Philippine Finals" (Press release). Globe Telecom Inc. Globe Newsroom PH. 19 July 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Reon (30 July 2017). "MSC Malaysia and Singapore Qualifiers Finals ends with a bang!". MAXIT. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Ang, Samuel (4 July 2018). "A Legendary Competition: Mobile Legends MSC 2018". eGG Network. Archived from the original on 22 June 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Drama Breakouts Out at Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup 2018". IGN Southeast Asia. IGN. 29 July 2018 [28 July 2018]. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ Chan, Matthew (31 July 2018). "Philippines Dominate MSC 2018 with Aether Main Bringing Home the Crown!". IGN Southeast Asia. IGN. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Mobile Legends' SEA Cup (MSC) will feature a US$120,000 prize pool". ONE Esports. 5 June 2019.
- ^ Subari, Hilmy R. (14 May 2020). "Moonton Officially Announces MSC 2020 Cancelled". Dunia Games. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ a b c "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang". Facebook (in Indonesian). 11 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ Dewangga, Adithya (31 May 2021). "Jadwal dan Grup MSC 2021". Esportsku. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ Ahmed, Wasif (27 April 2021). "Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2021 unveiled with $150,000 prize pool". Dot Esports. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ Ahmed, Wasif (7 April 2022). "MLBB Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2022 will take place in Kuala Lumpur". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ "MSC 2023: Schedule, results, format, where to watch | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 18 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ Fudge, James (23 January 2024). "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Coming to Esports World Cup". The Esports Advocate. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
- ^ "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup is coming to the Philippines this 19 to 23 June 2019".
- ^ "MSC Grand Final 2017". Esports Charts. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ "Kemewahan Event MSC ML 2018 di Balik Penderitaan Pemain" [Players Suffering Behind MSC 2018 Event Luxuriousity]. Kaskus ID (in Indonesian). 18 July 2018.
- ^ "MLBB SEA Cup 2019 (MSC) detailed stats". Esports Charts.
- ^ "MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2021". Esports Charts.
- ^ "MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2022". escharts.com. 31 March 2023.
- ^ "MSC 2023 becomes top-1 in history of series and sets new record for esports audience in Cambodia". escharts.com.
- ^ Kun, Coffin (1 September 2017). "[MSC Five Nations Invitational] MSC 2017 - Grand Finals RESULTS!". Mobile Legends Forum. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ Rifki, Billy (27 July 2018). "Hasil Undian Grup MSC 2018, Aerowolf Dikepung Tim Asing" [MSC 2018 Group Draw Result, Aerowolf Besieged by Fovereign Teams]. Esports ID (in Indonesian). Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ Dexter "the Heartbreaker" (4 June 2019). "The MSC 2019 Groups Have Been Announced!". eGG Network. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ Elona, Jules (7 June 2021). "MSC 2021: Results, schedule, format, prize pool, participating teams". ONE Esports. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ "MSC 2022 group draw results | ONE Esports". ONE Esports. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
- ^ "MSC 2023 group draw results: Fenix Esports takes on group of death in Group B". ONE Esports. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
External links edit
- MSC Official Website Archived 7 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine