(Screengrab from MLBB eSports YouTube Channel)
MLBB reveals MSC Tournament Format at EWC 2025 from Wild Cards to Glory — 16 teams, only one champion. Mobile Legends Esports, on June 11, releases the full breakdown of the tournament format for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup (MSC) at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025 through a short creative video titled “Encounter the Unknown.”
English talents from the Mobile Legends Professional League (MPL) Philippines (Bridgitte “Brigida” Ramos and Renmar “Reptar” Santa Cruz), Malaysia (Aiman “Laphel” Kamal and Gideon Khew “GideonQ” Wei Yung), and Indonesia (Frederick Handy “Mirko” Loho) were featured as the actors. The video follows the story of five explorers who embark on a jungle adventure to discover the complete format of this year’s MSC.
First, the Wild Card Stage format consists of 8 regions — Latin America (LATAM), Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), MEKONG (Laos), China, Vietnam, Mongolia, and returning Japan — are divided into two groups who will each fight in a best-of-three series for elimination from July 10 – July 13. The winners of each group will fight in a best-of-seven series to determine who will qualify for the Group Stage.
Next, the Group Stage features 16 teams divided into two seed pools and will play from July 23 – July 27. Seed 1 is composed of two Indonesian, Malaysian, and Filipino teams, as well as a team from Myanmar and EECA.
On the other hand, China, Turkiye, Cambodia, MENA, a team from North America, and the Wild Card qualifier make up Seed 2. Teams from the same region will not be drawn in the same group. Then, each group will enter a best-of-three double-elimination series totaling 20 matches.
The eight surviving teams from the previous stage will advance to the Knockout Stage battles from July 30 – August 2 with a single elimination format. In this bracket, teams who will get two wins in a row will go against 2-1 teams in the first round. All matches from the Quarterfinals up to the Semifinals will be best-of-five, while the Grand Finals will be best-of-seven.
Another MSC 2025 tournament mechanic allows 2-0 teams in the Knockout Stage to choose their 2-1 opponent to their own advantage. Moreover, stronger teams can also strategically lose their match against a weaker team to drop into the lower bracket and attempt a comeback run from that point.
MPL PH Season 15 Champion Team Liquid Philippines and First Runner-Up ONIC Philippines will be the Filipino representatives for the MSC Tournament at EWC 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.