IT’S PHILIPPINES vs Indonesia for all the marbles of the M5 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) World Championship.
Home bet AP Bren dispatched a compatriot squad to earn a shot at Onic Esports Indonesia in the grand finals of the MLBB esports world tilt over the weekend before a sizeable crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum (RMC) in Manila
AP Bren, the champion of the MLBB Pro League Philippines (MPL-PH), swept past local rival and former world champion Blacklist International in the lower bracket finals to advance to the grand finals against the Indonesian counterpart.
It was Onic Indonesia that relegated AP Bren, the M2 world champion, to the lower bracket after ruling the upper bracket finals with a similar 3-0 win for the first grand final ticket.
But the vengeful AP Bren, mentored by Francis “Duckey” Glindro, proved undeterred and vented its ire on fellow Philippine bet Blacklist to still stay in M5 world title contention.
Rowgien “Owgwen” Unigo, with pet heroes Mathilda and Arlott, starred in the Hornets’ sweep of Blacklist by capturing two MVP honors in three matches.
Marco “Super Marco” Requitiano and Michael “KyleTzy” Sayson, then took over in the series-clinching Game 3 with solid coverage from David “Flaptzy” Canon and team captain Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel.
AP Bren also steered the Philippines to the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games MLBB esports event in Cambodia with a 3-0 win over the Malaysian counterparts last summer.
That win capped a three-peat for the Filipinos since the introduction of esports as an official medal event in the SEA Games in 2019 here in Manila, where Bren also made up the team core led by captain Arcangel for the inaugural title.
Right after, AP Bren scored a 4-1 romp of Blacklist to reign supreme in the MPL-PH Season 12 finals and clinch a ticket in the M5 in a bid to win another world title after capturing the second edition of the world esports championships.
As the Philippines’ second placer, Blacklist was also rewarded with a world tilt slot only to fall short against AP Bren anew for its worst finish at third.
Blacklist won the M3 world championship before finishing runner-up in M4 to another local stalwart in Echo Philippines. — John Bryan Ulanday
