The 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship, commonly referred to as the M5 World Championships and M5, was the fifth edition of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship, an esports tournament for the mobile phone MOBA game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The world championship lasted from November 23 until December 17, 2023.
This edition of the world series foresaw an increase in regional and team participation with new entries including South Asia, Mekong, Mongolia and China. Meanwhile, team qualifications for Latin America increased from one representative to two for this edition. This world championship featured the first wild card event where eight (8) teams from the aforementioned regions including Malaysia, Europe, MENA, and LATAM were able to compete for two wildcard slots. It also featured then, the highest prize pool for any international MLBB competition at $900,000, and the highest number of team participation in all of its editions.
In the Grand Finals, AP Bren won the M5 World Championship title in seven games, defeating Indonesia's ONIC Esports making them the only organization thus far to win two-world championship titles. This was the second-time that an Indonesian and Filipino representative faced each other in the Grand Finals of a major MLBB tournament, the first being Blacklist International and ONIC Esports during MSC 2023.
The Grand Finals match also broke the M4 World Championship’s Grand Finals viewership record—recording 5,067,107 peak live viewers during the match, making it the most-watched MLBB game in history and the second-most watched game in 2023, just behind the 2023 League of Legends World Championship between T1 and Weibo Gaming.
Background Following M4, the MLBB M5 World Championships is the fifth Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship and the first edition of the games to be held in the Philippines. Malaysia was later announced to be the host of the wildcard round.
Previously, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia held the first four editions of the games, M1 in Kuala Lumpur; M2 and M3 in Singapore; and M4 in Jakarta.
M5 featured teams from Asia, North America, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe and Latin America. Teams qualified through their region's qualification method, whether it be an MPL Region or a Moonton-approved qualification tournament.
Venue The M5 World Championship was announced to be held in Metro Manila.
Alongside Moonton, the country's Department of Tourism organized the event. EVM Convention Center (located in Quezon City) hosted the group stage and first knockouts stage of M5. On the other hand, the latter knockout stages and grand finals was held at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila. The selling of tickets for the event started on October 25.
+ Group Stage and Knockout Stage Phase 1 Knockout Stage Phase 2 and Grand FinalsQuezon CityManila
Qualified teams Qualifying for the M5 World Championship comes from the competing nation's Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League or commonly known as "MPL." However, regional qualifiers in the North America, Turkey, Myanmar, and Latin American regions were also held to broaden the reach of the Championship's teams. Two teams shall also qualify from the M5 Wildcards.
M5 will feature the European region for the fourth time since its absence in the last M4 World Championship. The number of natural qualifiers for MPL Malaysia have also been reduced to one. Instead of having its own slot, Brazil is now included in the Latin America region for a chance in the two regional teams participating for the world championship.
The defending World Champions in ECHO Philippines would not be completing their back-to-back championship titles due to them being eliminated by Blacklist International in the Lower Grand Finals of MPL Philippines Season 12.
Group Stage: December 2 to 7, 2023 16 teams will be divided into 2 groups. Single Round Robin, all matches are played in a Bo3. Top 2 teams from each groups will advance to Knockout Stage. Bottom 2 teams from each groups will be eliminated from the tournament. Knockout Stage: December 9 to 17, 2023 8 teams from Group Stage will play in a double-elimination bracket. All Matches will be played in a Bo5 except Grand Final. Grand Finals will be played in a Bo7.
RegionLeagueQualification methodTeam nameIDGroupPhilippinesMPL PhilippinesMPL Philippines Season 12 Champions AP BrenAPBRCMPL Philippines Season 12 Runners-Up Blacklist InternationalBLCKBIndonesiaMPL IndonesiaMPL Indonesia Season 12 Champions ONIC EsportsONICAMPL Indonesia Season 12 Runners-Up Geek Fam IDGEEKDLatin AmericaLiga LATAMLiga LATAM 2023 Champions RRQ AkiraRRQBLiga LATAM 2023 Runners-Up Bigetron SonsBTRAMalaysiaMPL MalaysiaMPL Malaysia Season 12 Champions HomeBois HB DSingaporeMPL SingaporeMPL Singapore Season 6 Champions Team FlashFLCCambodiaMPL CambodiaMPL Cambodia Autumn Split 2023 Champions SeeYouSoon SYSAMiddle East and North AfricaMPL MENAMPL MENA Fall Split 2023 Champions Triple EsportsTEAMyanmarM5 Myanmar QualifiersM5 Myanmar Qualifier Champions Burmese GhoulsBGCTurkiyeMTC Turkiye Championship MLBB Türkiye Şampiyonası Season 2 Champions Fire Flux EsportsFFBNorth AmericaMLBB NACTMLBB NACT Fall Season 2023 Champions TheOhioBrothersTOBDEastern Europe and Central AsiaMLBB Continental ChampionshipsMLBB Continental Championships Season 2 Champions Deus VultDeVuDMalaysiaM5 Wildcard QualifiersM5 Wildcard Qualifying Team Team SMGSMGBMongoliaM5 Wildcard QualifiersM5 Wildcard Qualifying Team Team LilgunlgC Notable teams including ONIC Esports, SeeYouSoon, RRQ Akira and Team SMG returns to the world stage from their previous World Championship campaigns. Notably, ONIC Esports and RRQ Akira returns after M4 and Team SMG and SeeYouSoon returns after M3.
Amid the new format of the MLBB World Championship, two teams, AP Bren and Burmese Ghouls, made a return after their M2 campaign. AP Bren were the MLBB M2 World Champions, defeating Burmese Ghouls in the process. Formerly known as Bren Esports, the M2 World Champions included players such as Carlito "Ribo" Ribo Jr., Allan "Lusty" Jr., Ralph "Coco" Sampang, and Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno. After their victory over Blacklist International, M2 World Champions Angelo Kyle "Pheww" Arcangel and Charles "FlapTzy" Canon returned to the international stage alongside M2 World Champion Coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro.
Meanwhile, Burmese Ghouls returns with a new roster with new faces than the M2 squad.
Official rosters Returning teams from the previous MLBB World Championships include Blacklist International, ONIC Esports and RRQ Akira while newer teams such as Geek Fam Indonesia, Bigetron Sons, HomeBois, Team Flash, Triple Esports, Fire Flux Esports, TheOhioBrothers and most of the wildcard teams will be part of their first world championships.
AP Bren marks a return as the M2 World Champions alongside Burmese Ghouls who were their finals opponents on the aforementioned series, Blacklist International are returning for their third-consecutive Worlds after winning M3 and runners-up for M4. SeeYouSoon and Team SMG returns since M3 and Deus Vult returns since M1. +TeamLeagueJungleEXPMidGoldRoamSubstitute(s)Coach(es)Analyst(s) AP BrenMPL PH KyleTzy (Michael Sayson) FlapTzy (David Canon) Pheww(Angelo Arcangel) Super Marco (Marco Requitiano) Owgwen (Rowgien Unigo) Pandora (Vincent Unigo) Ducky (Francis Glindro) Vrendon Lim (Vrendon Pesebre) Blacklist InternationalMPL PH Sensui (Stephen Castillo) Edward (Edward Dapadap) Hadji (Salic Imam) Oheb (Kiel Soriano) Renejay (Renejay Barcase) Owl (Lee Gonzales) Yue (Kenneth Tadeo) Master the Basics (Aniel Jiandani) Dex Star (Dexter Alaba) ONIC EsportsMPL ID Kairi (Kairi Rayosdelsol) Butss (Muhammad Sanubari) S A N Z (Gilang) CW (Calvin Winata) Kiboy (Nicky Pontonuwu) Albert (Albert Iskandar) Coach Yeb (Denver Miranda) Adi (Adi Asyauri) Geek Fam IndonesiaMPL ID Nnael (Manuel Simbolon) Luke (Luke Valentinus) Aboy (Valen Putra) Markyyyy (Mark Capacio) Baloyskie (Allen Baloy) Caderaa (Mohammad Pambudi) Ervan (Ervan Pratama)N/A RRQ AkiraLiga LATAM Kiing (Lucas Godoy) Tekashi (Arthur Nascimento) Seigen (Matheus Lima) Gustalagusta (Gustavo Lima) Luiizz (Luiz Alves) Blink (Gabriel Favoreto) Cabral (Godman Cabral)N/A Bigetron SonsLiga LATAM Buzizio (Everton Mattos) Bllack (Felipe Prado) Sindra (Luis Tavares) Upa (Lucas Araujo) Lunna (Victor Monteiro) Akashi (Nicolas Vieira) Daarkness (Diego Casado) Hoooky (Breno Almeida) HomeBoisMPL MY Chibi (Muhammad Nazhan bin Mohd Nor) Sepat (Muhammad Irfan bin Aujang) Warlord (Rizky Agustian) RaizeL (Wahyu Saputra) Xorn (Mohammad Zul Hisham bin Mohd Noor) Anip (Muhammad Haniff bin Abdul Rashid) Vins (Muhammad Nazreen bin Nasir) (H.C.) Pabz (Khairul Azman bin Mohd Sharif) (A.C.) Saiful (Muhammad Saiful Bin Aujang) Antagonist (M Bachiri) Team FlashMPL SG Hadess (Jaymark Lazaro) Adammir (Adam Chong) Jayy (Jay Chng) Vanix (Keith Lim) Lolsie (Bellamy Yeov) Bloopymiku (Leong Kai Xiang) Kayzeepi (Eugene Kong) Remaniscent (Remas Hong) SeeYouSoonMPL KH MP the King (Michael Endino) FELIX (Leng Kimhak) Raa (Sovann Chanmakara) Kousei (Clarense Camilo) BOXI (Sok Viera) Tuzu (Lim Bunheng) RUNN (Mon Phearun) (H.C.) Cattt (Chhim Vitou) (A.C.) Jin N/A Triple EsportsMENA Tarzan (Mohammed Kharabah) Sanji (Ayman Alqarni) Cuffin (Muath Alkoraini) Fury (Ahmad Zeyad) Troll (Moayed Kharaba) Saano (Sulaiman Alrashdi) Krauser Lyrick (Hendrich Clahi) Zuzu (Khaled Zouzou) Deus VultCIS Magistor (Eduard Rukosuev) Kid Bomba (Mathaios Chazilakos) Sunset Lover (Kemiran Kochkarov) Carvi (Carl Tinio) SAWO (Stansilav Reshnyak) Shisu1Skie (Alikhan Madibekov) Lil (Ruslan Degtev) Flysolo (Kenneth Coloma)N/A Fire Flux EsportsMTC Tienzy (Sidar Menteşe) Alien (Bariş Ali Çakir) Rosa (Ahmet Taha Batir) Sunshine (Emre Sari) APEX47 (Furkan Akbulut) Paranoid (Osman Karademir) Badgalseph (Sacit Arslan) SIGIBUM (Şiyar Akbulut) TheOhioBrothersNACT Bestplayer1(Carlos Ortega Vega) Mielow (Chris Enobio) Hoon (Jang Seong-hoon) ZIA (Ziameth-Jei Caluya) SHARK (Vo Trung) Wrath (Jared Gillespie) PikaPikaML (Steve Tran)N/A Burmese GhoulsM5Q - MYA Niko (Hein Arkar Htet) Carbon (Thiha Kyaw) Lina (Kaung Min Khant) Stitch (Htet Linn Hlyan Aung) Blink (Kyaw Thuya) Shadow (Kaung Htet Hein) (H.C.) Lynn Daddy (Thet Lynn Htut) (A.C.) DJ (Daung Jaune)N/A
M5 Wild Card
The M5 Wild Card tournament is a qualifying tournament for the MLBB M5 World Championship, an esports tournament for the Mobile Game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
The M5 World Championship was the first edition to include a wild card round. The top two teams will qualify for the main tournament.
Wildcard Groups: November 23 to 25, 2023 8 teams will be randomly drawn into 2 groups. Single Round Robin, all matches are played in a Bo1. Top 2 teams from each groups will play in Crossover Match. Bottom 2 teams from each groups will be eliminated from the tournament. Crossover Match: November 26, 2023 First place will compete in a Bo5 against the second placer from the other group. Winner of each matches will advance to Group Stage. Loser will be eliminated.
RegionLeagueQualification methodTeam nameIDGroupSouth AsiaMLBB Champion Battles (MCB)MLBB Champion Battles (MCB) Champions 4Merical Esports4MAMekong RegionM5 M Challenge CupM5 M Challenge Cup Champions Niightmare EsportsNMAMalaysiaMPL MalaysiaMPL Malaysia Season 12 Runners-Up Team SMGSMGALatin AmericaLiga LATAMLiga LATAM 2023 2nd Runners-Up Imperio EsportsIMPEBEastern Europe and Central AsiaMLBB Continental ChampionshipMLBB Continental Championship Season 2 Runners-Up Umbrella SquadUSBMongoliaMLBB ESN National ChampionshipMLBB ESN National Champions Team LilgunlgBMiddle East and North AfricaMPL MENAMPL MENA Fall Split 2023 Runners-Up Team FalconsFLCNAChinaM5 China QualifierM5 China Qualifier Champions Keep Best GamingKBGB
Wild Card roster TeamPlayersCoach/ManagerJungleExp LaneGold LaneMidlanerRoamer KeepBestGaming Simba