Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M3 World Championship: What to know

The M3 World Championship gathers the 16 best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams in the world to compete for the lion's share of a US$800,000 prize pool and the right to be called the new MLBB world champions. (Photo: Moonton Games)
The M3 World Championship gathers the 16 best Mobile Legends: Bang Bang teams in the world to compete for the lion's share of a US$800,000 prize pool and the right to be called the new MLBB world champions. (Photo: Moonton Games)

The M3 World Championship, the third iteration of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) world championship tournament, is kicking off on Monday (6 December).

The tournament features 16 of the best MLBB teams from across the world battling for the lion's share of the US$800,000 prize pool and the right to be called the new MLBB world champions, with the grand finals on 19 December.

Here’s everything you need to know about the M3 World Championship:

Venue

The M3 World Championship will take place at the Suntec Singapore International Convention from 6 to 19 December. A live audience will be present for the tournament, though tickets have already been sold out.

Prize Pool

The M3 World Championship will have a total prize pool of US$800,000, three times larger than the prize pool of the of the past two world championships and the biggest-ever in the history of MLBB esports.

The M3 World champions will be taking home the lion’s share of US $300,000, though all teams that made it to the tournament are guaranteed to earn at least US$10,000.

Here’s the prize pool breakdown for the M3 World Championship:

World Champion: US$300,000

2nd place: US$120,000

3rd place: US$80,000

4th place: US$55,000

5th to 6th: US$40,000

7th to 8th: US$30,000

9th to 12th: US$15,000

13th to 16th: US$10,000

Participating Teams

The M3 World Championship gathers the 16 best MLBB teams from the game's heartland in Southeast Asia as well as the rest of the world.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brazil all have two representatives in event, comprised of the champions and runners-up of each country's respective professional MLBB league. Meanwhile, Cambodia, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Latin America, and North America each have one representative.

Here's the full list of participating teams at the M3 World Championship:

Blacklist International (Philippines S8 Champion)

ONIC Philippines (Philippines S8 Runner Up)

ONIC Esports (Indonesia S8 Champion)

RRQ Hoshi (Indonesia S8 Runner Up)

Team SMG (Malaysia S8 Champion)

Todak (Malaysia S8 Runner Up)

EVOS Esports SG (Singapore S2 Champion)

RSG Singapore (Singapore S2 Runner Up)

RED Canids (Brazil S1 Champion)

Keyd Stars (Brazil S1 Runner Up)

See You Soon (Cambodia S1 Champion)

Natus Vincere (Mythic League, Russia)

Bedel (Turkish Championship)

Malvinas Gaming (Latin American Championship)

GX Squad (Arabia Major)

BloodThirstyKings (North America)

Format

The M3 World Championship is split into two main stages: the Group Stage and the Playoffs.

The Group Stage will be held from 6 to 9 December and will see the participating teams divided into four groups of four teams each, determined by the group draw last 6 November.

Teams in each group will compete against each other in a best-of-one match in a single round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the upper bracket of the Playoffs while the bottom two teams will start the Playoffs from the lower bracket.

Here are the groupings for the Group Stage:

Group A: Blacklist International, RED Canids Kalunga, Malvinas Gaming, Bedel

Group B: ONIC Esports, ONIC PH, Todak, Vivo Keyd

Group C: EVOS SG, SeeYouSoon, Na'Vi, BloodThirstyKings

Group D: Team SG, RRQ Hoshi, GX Squad, RSG SG

In the Playoffs, all sixteen teams will play in a double-elimination bracket from 11 to 19 December. Eight teams will start in the upper bracket, where all matches are a best-of-five series.

Meanwhile, the other eight teams in the lower bracket will compete in a best-of-three series for the first two rounds. After that, matches will be a best-of-five from Round 3 to the Lower Finals.

One team will emerge from each bracket and will face offf in the best-of-seven Grand Finals for the championship on 19 December.

*Note: The champion Valentina is disabled for this tournament.

You can view the schedule of the teams through this link.

Where can I watch the M3 World Championship?

If you weren’t able to buy a ticket for the event, you can still watch the M3 World Championship online via the official MLBB Facebook page as well as Twitch, and Youtube channels.

Broadcasts will be available in English, Filipino, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Cambodian, Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Fans in Singapore can also catch the action live on meWATCH, as Singaporean media company Mediacorp partnered with MLBB developer Moonton Games for the M3 World Championship.

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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