KUALA LUMPUR: Teams from around the globe converged in Malaysia to do battle for over three weeks in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M6 World Championship.
In the end, it was Fnatic Onic Philippines (FNOP) who were crowned champions, leaving no room for drama as they downed Team Liquid Indonesia (TLID) 4-1 in the grand final at the Axiata Arena yesterday (Dec 15).
Dubbed the "Super Family", FNOP were unstoppable and went undefeated throughout the tournament. They dropped only five games out of the 21 they played.
Teams from the Philippines have now won the last five editions of the World Championship, underlining their dominance in MLBB.
It was, however, heartbreak for Malaysian fans as home favourites Selangor Red Giants (SRG) and Team Vamos fell short in their mission to reach the grand final.
But both teams were still able to achieve milestone performances in their maiden M Series World Championship outing.
SRG entered the tournament with hopes of completing the Golden Road — winning all four major titles (domestic and international) in a single year.
Their journey began on a shaky note with defeats to Turkiye's S2G and Myanmar's Falcon Esports during the Swiss stage. Despite the setbacks, the Mid Season Cup champions rallied to qualify for the knockout rounds.
In the knockout stage, SRG fell 2-0 to eventual champions FNOP in the opening round but fought their way through the lower bracket, scoring some impressive wins which included a 3-0 victory over Russia's Team Spirit.
Unfortunately, their momentum faltered in the lower bracket final, where they lost 3-0 to TLID.
SRG's coach, Michael Angelo "Arcadia" Bocado said a packed competition schedule this season had taken its toll on his players.
Qualifying for the World Championship and reaching the knockout rounds was already an impressive achievement for Team Vamos and had far exceeded the expectations of team owner Faris "Soloz" Zakaria.
Vamos was formed with a core group of former HomeBois players. The latter struggled at the M5 World Championship and failed to advance past the group stage.