MSC 2025
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Mobile Legends: Bang Bang |
| Location | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 10 July–2 August 2025 |
| Administrator | Moonton |
| Teams | 16 |
| Purse | US$3,000,000 |
The 2025 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup will be the second international tournament of the esports Multiplayer online battle arena game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. It will be the eight iteration of the competition and the second iteration under the branding "Mid-Season Cup" since its inception in 2024.[1][2] The tournament will begin with the Wild Card stage from July 10 to July 13, and will end with the Grand Finals on August 2, 2025.[3]
MSC 2025 for the second time will be coincidingly held with the 2025 Esports World Cup as the men's division for MLBB. It will occur alongside the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women's Invitational and other esports titles in the EWC.[4][5] Formerly based in Southeast Asia, MSC 2025 will be the second edition for Moonton to determine its international outreach as since the 2023 edition of the games, newer regions were introduced to compete such as North America.[6][7]
The current champions Selangor Red Giants OG Esports—who partnered with Dota 2 organization OG—is currently competing for a slot in MSC 2025 and a chance to repeat.[8][9]
Background
[edit]MSC 2025 will be held once again coinciding with the 2025 Esports World Cup, a yearly international tournament held is Saudi Arabia where most of major esports titles are competed by the worlds' renowned teams such as League of Legends, Dota 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and Valorant. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang was part of the inaugural EWC in 2024[10] and is the first time that the tournament was played under the name "Mid-Season Cup" alluding similarities to the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational or MSI.
Venue
[edit]Similarly to MSC 2024, the venue for MSC 2025 will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with details regarding the main venues to be announced.
Format
[edit]Fifteen of the sixteen group-stage teams will be outright qualifying from major regions in Mobile Legends. These regions have made a name for themselves as the home of powerhouse teams including Indonesia[11][12] and the Philippines[13][14] alongside emerging powerhouse regions such as Malaysia[15] and Singapore.[16] Also included in the group-stage are established regions in their own right, with Moonton accredited competitions being the qualifying tournament for MSC such as Cambodia, MENA, North America, and Turkey. Meanwhile, Myanmar's inception returned following all esports competition halting in the region due to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état[17] and China with its growing esports base was seemed fitting to be of the same caliber as pre-established teams.[18]
Qualified teams
[edit]A total of sixteen teams will be competing in the Group Stage while only eight are to advance to the knockout stage. Details regarding the format of MSC 2025 are still to be announced however, with the recent announcement of qualifier and slot allocations for every participating region, the wild card stage will return for the third-consecutive time since its inception in 2023.[19]
For MSC 2025, Japan will be making its MLBB comeback. Japan last competed on a MLBB competition during the MLBB M2 World Championships and has since not competed.[20]
| Region | League | Path | Team | Short Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting in the Group Stage | ||||
 Indonesia
|
MPL-ID | Season 15 champions | — | — |
| Season 15 runner-up | ||||
 Philippines
|
MPL-PH | Season 15 champions | — | — |
| Season 15 runner-up | ||||
 Malaysia
|
MPL-MY | Season 15 champions | — | — |
| Season 15 runner-up | ||||
 Singapore
|
MPL-SG | Season 9 champions | — | — |
 Cambodia
|
MPL-KH | Season 8 champions | CFU Gaming
|
CFU |
 China
|
CQ | Qualifier champions | — | — |
 EECA
|
MCC | Season 5 champions | — | — |
 MENA
|
MPL-MENA | Season 7 champions | — | — |
 LATAM
|
MPL-LATAM | Season 3 champions |  INFLUENCE RAGE / Corinthians
|
INF / COR |
 Turkey
|
MTC | Season 5 champions | Aurora
|
RORT |
 North America
|
NACT | Spring champions | S8UL Esports[21]
|
S8 |
 Myanmar
|
MSL | Season 1 champions | — | — |
| Starting in the Wild Card Stage | ||||
| MENA
|
MPL-MENA | Season 7 runner-up | — | — |
| LATAM
|
MPL-LATAM | Season 3 runner-up | — | — |
| EECA
|
MCC | Season 5 runner-up | — | — |
 Vietnam
|
VMC | Spring champions | Legion Esports
|
LE |
 Southeast Asia
|
M Challenge Cup | Season 5 champions | — | — |
 Mongolia
|
MQ | Qualifier champions | The MongolZ
|
MGLZ |
| China
|
CQ | Qualifier runner-up | — | — |
 Japan
|
JQ | Qualifier champions | ZETA DIVISION
|
ZD |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "MSC to rebrand as Mid-Season Cup, further pushing MLBB's diversity". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ News, G. M. A. (2024-01-26). "MSC 2024 to be hosted by Saudi Arabia in July". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "EWC 2025 Schedule". esportsworldcup.com. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "MLBB Women's Invitational To Feature 16 Teams At EWC 2025 - Hotspawn". 2025-05-15. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ Mehtani, Siddharth (2024-12-16). "Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Rocket League announced for 2025 Esports World Cup". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "MSC 2023 goes global, adds three new non-SEA regions | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2023-02-18. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "BTK is disqualified from MSC 2023, Outplay replaces them | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ Lojo, Michelle. "OG partners with Malaysia's SRG to strengthen APAC MLBB presence". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "MPL MY S15: SRG.OG Kicks Off The League With An Innocent Savage - Hotspawn". 2025-04-20. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "All 21 games in the Esports World Cup 2024 | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ News, BEA MICALLER, GMA Integrated (2023-06-18). "Kairi, Yeb steer Onic Esports to MSC 2023 title, denies Blacklist International". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Indonesia's ONIC Esports takes MSC 2019 crown | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "Execration dominate Blacklist International 4-1 to take MSC crown". Yahoo News. 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "RSG Philippines sweep RRQ Hoshi 4-0 to claim Mobile Legends SEA Cup 2022 title". Yahoo News. 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ Siasat, J. M. (2024-07-15). "SRG stuns Falcons AP Bren; wins MSC 2024". Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ Suntama, Permadi (2024-07-13). "Jadwal Playoff Semifinal MSC MLBB 2024: Red Giant vs Flash". tirto.id (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ Coloma, Angel (April 6, 2022). "Mobile Legends: MSC to be held in Malaysia; 2 PH teams to compete". www.abs-cbn.com. Retrieved May 20, 2025.
- ^ "MSC 2024 teams: All teams qualified for the tournament | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2024-07-03. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "MLBB MSC 2025 X EWC Details: Schedule, Teams & More - Hotspawn". 2025-04-02. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ "Japan's long-awaited return: MSC 2025 sees historic MLBB comeback". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2025-05-20.
- ^ It was originally BloodThirstyKings however, the roster was bought out by Indian organization S8UL Esports.