AP.Bren outlast ONIC Esports 4-3 to win Mobile Legends M5 World Championship

Filipino Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) juggernauts AP.Bren have been crowned as this year's world champions after they outlasted their Indonesian rivals ONIC Esports, 4-3, in the M5 World Championship best-of-seven Grand Finals on Sunday (17 December).

With their victory, AP.Bren claimed the grand prize of US$300,000 out of the tournament's US$900,000 prize pool.

This is now the second MLBB world championship title for the Bren Esports organisation, who won their first during the M2 World Championship back in 2021. They are the first-ever two-time world champions in MLBB history.

EXP laner David "FlapTzy" Canon and midlaner Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel, who were both part of the Bren roster that won M2, are now the first two players to become two-time MLBB world champions.

This is also marks the fourth-straight year that a Filipino team has been hailed as MLBB world champions. Bren Esports started the streak at M2 in January 2021, Blacklist International won the next at M3 in December of that year, then ECHO made it a three-peat for the Philippines at M4 in January 2023.

Both AP.Bren and ONIC had a dominant run throughout the competition, with ONIC topping Group A and AP.Bren coming out on top in Group C during the Group Stage.

During the Knockout Stage, both teams remained at the top of their game before clashing at the upper bracket finals.

AP.Bren first defeated Cambodia's See You Soon, 3-1, in the upper bracket quarterfinals then took down Indonesia's Geek Fam ID, 3-1, in the upper bracket semifinals. Meanwhile, ONIC had to outlast Blacklist International, 3-2, before sweeping Russia's Deus Vult.

In their first encounter at the upper bracket finals, ONIC soundly swept AP.Bren, 3-0, and knocked them down to the lower bracket finals. AP.Bren then bounced back by scoring a 3-0 sweep of their own over fellow Filipino squad Blacklist to earn a rematch with ONIC for the M5 World Championship title.

Determined to avenge their previous loss and claim the Philippines' fourth-straight world championship on home soil, AP.Bren came out swinging to start the Grand Finals with a 14-minute game one win.

ONIC promptly responded by emerging victorious in a drawn-out 22-minute game two to tie up the series at 1-1. AP.Bren welcomed the challenge and scored two-straight 14-minute wins to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

ONIC did not go down without a fight, however, as they won the next two games in 27 and 15 minutes, respectively, to force the series to a deciding game seven.

With everything on the line and in front of their home crowd, AP.Bren put on a masterful performance in the decider and closed out the 4-3 series victory in 15 minutes to become the first-ever two-time MLBB world champions.

David "FlapTzy" Canon was notably named the MVP of the series, with his mastery of different heroes especially on Thamuz, where he would enable his team to make a comeback with his playmaking.

Meanwhile, ONIC end their M5 run by settling for second place and taking home US$120,000 in consolation.

The M5 World Championship Grand Finals was hosted in the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila. For everything you need to know about the M5 World Championship, check here.

AP Bren Roster:

• David "FlapTzy" Canon

• Vincent "Pandora" Unigo

• Michael "KyleTzy" Sayson

• Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel

• Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano

• Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo

Onic Esports Roster:

• Muhammad "Butsss" Sanubari

• Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol

• Gilang "S A N Z"

• Calvin "CW" Winata

• Adriand "Drian" Wong

• Albert "Alberttt" Iskandar

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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