The biggest and most prestigious Mobile Legends: Bang Bang eSport tournament, the M5 World Championship is scheduled to start on November 23 and run till December 17 in Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
Organised by video game developer Moonton, the M5 World Championship is the final event and the World Championship of the MLBB 2023 competitive season.
As many as 22 eSports teams will compete in the fifth edition of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship.
It will be the first edition of MLBB to be held in the Philippines, while Malaysia will host the wildcard round of MLBB 2023.
M5 World Championship schedule and format
The M5 World Championship will be staged in two phases - Wildcard and the Main event.
The Wildcard tournament of the M5 World Championship will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from November 23 to 26.
A total of eight MLBB teams will feature in the Wildcard round. These eight teams will be randomly divided into two groups.
The top two teams from each group will play in a Crossover match while the two bottom-placed teams from each group will be eliminated.
The first-placed team in one group will clash with the second-placed side in the other group in the two Crossover matches.
The winners of the Crossover matches will advance to the Group Stage of the Main tournament, while the losers will be knocked out of the tournament.
As many as 16 MLBB teams will then compete in the Main tournament of the M5 World Championship from December 2 to 17.
The 16 participating teams will be split into four groups of four teams each.
In the Group Stage, matches will be played in single round-robin format in a best-of-three series.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the Knockout Stage, while the two bottom-placed teams from each group will be eliminated.
In the Knockout Stage, the eight teams from the Group Stage will compete in a double-elimination bracket.
All matches will be played in a best-of-five series except the Grand Final which will be held in a best-of-seven series.
Round |
Dates |
Wildcard |
November 23-26 |
Group Stage |
December 2-7 |
Knockout Stage |
December 9-17 |
M5 World Championship teams
These eight MLBB teams that will will battle in the Wildcard Stage for the two Group Stage slots:
- Team SMG (Malaysia)
- Imperio (LATAM)
- Umbrella Squad (CIS)
- 4Merical Esports (Nepal)
- Nightmare Esports (Laos)
- Team Lilgun (Mongolia)
- Team Falcons (MENA)
- KeepBest Gaming (China)
Here are the 14 teams that have directly qualified for the MLBB M5 World Championship Group Stage from their regional tournaments:
- AP Bren (Philippines)
- Blacklist International (Philippines)
- Geek Fam ID (Indonesia)
- ONIC Esports (Indonesia)
- RRQ Akira (LATAM)
- Bigetron Sons (LATAM)
- HomeBois (Malaysia)
- Team Flash (Singapore)
- See You Soon (Cambodia)
- Triple Esports (MENA)
- Fire Flux Esports (Turkey)
- Deus Vult (CIS)
- TheOhioBrothers (North America)
- Burmese Ghouls (Myanmar)
M5 World Championship venues
The M5 World Championship Wildcard tournament will be held in Jio Space in Malaysia, while the Group Stage and the first Knockout Phase will take place at the EVM Convention in Manila, Philippines.
The Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila will later host the second Knockout phase and the Grand Finals.
M5 World Championship prize pool
The M5 World Championship has a total prize pool of $900,000 USD. The prize pool of the upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship has been increased from $800,000 USD to $900,000 USD.
Where to watch the M5 World Championship 2023 live?
Live streaming of the M5 World Championship will be available on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s YouTube, Facebook and TikTok channels.
Photo credit: Alamy