IN MOBILE LEGENDS Bang Bang (MLBB), you will hear the term Savage when a player consecutively kills five enemy heroes in a short period of time, a description that can now be used for the Philippines, after Fnatic ONIC Philippines won the M6 World Championship, giving the country it's fifth consecutive M-series win.
Three years, four countries and five M-series trophies, let's look back at the five M-series wins by different Filipino teams.
First Blood
With the world still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial hosting of the M2 World Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia had to be moved to Singapore at the start of 2021. Philippine representatives Smart Omega and BREN Esports both emerged on top of their respective groups but would fall to RRQ Hoshi and Burmese Ghouls in the Upper Bracket.
Smart Omega would then fall to Indonesia's Alter Ego leaving BREN Esports the last all-Filipino team standing. Crawling their way to the Grand Finals, BREN Esports dispatched Malaysia's TODAK, and both Indonesia teams (Alter Ego and RRQ Hoshi) to set-up a rematch with the powerhouse Myanmar squad.
Taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven finals, Burmese Ghouls were on the verge of winning the crown but BREN Esports proved their resilience and determination to force a Game Seven and eventually lift the first MLBB world series championship for the Philippines.
Double Kill
As restrictions slowly eased after two years of battling COVID-19, the third M-series was once again hosted in Singapore, this time with a limited number of spectators unlike a fully online viewership from M2. Returning to a 16-team group stage versus the 12 teams from M2.
Philippine league runner-ups ONIC Philippines suffered at the hands of their sister team, ONIC Esports but managed to come back with a strong finish, taking down Malaysia's TODAK and Brazil's Keyd Stars to lead their group while Philippine champions Blacklist International saw an undefeated run in Group A.
As ONIC Philippines swept the Upper Bracket, dispatching their opponents with 3-0 sweeps, Blacklist International fought a long battle in the lower bracket, playing and winning five matches to set-up an all Filipino Grand Finals for the M3 trophy.
Triple Kill
The fourth MLBB world championship finally returned to a fully offline event, heading to Jakarta, Indonesia (the initial venue of the M2 World Championship). The Philippines saw possible history-makers in their representatives Blacklist International who were gunning for a second consecutive title while ECHO's jungler Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno could be the first two-time MLBB world champion.
The M4 also saw many Filipino imports cementing the legacy of the Philippines as the top region for MLBB with Filipinos empowering MLBB teams both locally and abroad. The top six in the M4 World Championship all had Filipinos in their team, either as a coach or as a player.
But it could not compare to an all-Filipino roster as the M4 World Championship would see yet another all-Filipino Grand Final, with ECHO sweeping Blacklist International 4-0, making Nepomuceno the first two-time world champion and giving the Philippines it's third M-series title.
Maniac
With the M-series reaching a milestone fifth world championship, there was no other place to host the M5 but the land of champions itself, the Philippines.
With Filipino imports seeing continued success all over the world, it was no surprise that the Philippines was the most represented country in the tournament at 20% with 23 out of the 115 players being Filipino or having Filipino descent.
But history was on the line as Philippine teams AP Bren and Blacklist International hoped to secure their second M-series title, and make players Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel (AP Bren), David "FlapTzy" Canon (AP Bren), Edward “Edward” Dapadap (Blacklist), Kiel “Oheb” Soriano (Blacklist), and Salic “Hadji” Imam (Blacklist) as well as coach Francis "Ducky" Glindro (AP Bren) and analyst Dexter "Dex Star" Alaba (who was Blacklist International's substitute during the M3 World Championship) two-time MLBB world champions.
The all-Filipino match-up was prematurely seen at the lower bracket finals as AP Bren eliminated their countrymen on their way to the Grand Finals, promising to regain the trophy for the Philippines and break the MLBB host country curse, winning an official MOONTON Games event in front of a home crowd.
But one team stood in their way, Indonesia powerhouse ONIC Esports fueled by Filipino jungler Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol and Filipino coach Paul Denver "Yeb" Miranda. As the all-Filipino team inched closer to the M5 trophy, ONIC Esports managed to fight back and force a game seven, seeing the M-series go all the way for the first time since M2.
Fueled by the home crowd, a timely pick-off on Rayosdelsol saw ONIC Esports fall one by one prompting AP Bren to march towards the enemy base as the Filipino crowd chanted "Tapusin! Tapusin!" in time for the base to shatter and giving the Philippines its fourth M-series crown.
Savage
A year later, the world of MLBB had shifted heading into the M-series with the Philippines having yet to win an official MOONTON Games international event in 2024. The Mid-Season Cup (MSC) saw the rise of a new powerhouse region, Malaysia, who also took the World Esports Championship organized by the International Esports Federation.
Many were calling 2024 the year that the Philippine dominance in MLBB, dubbed the "PH Era", was finally coming to an end and it was now the rise of other regions. The point of view took a stronger hold as Aurora saw an early exit in the M6 group stages, leaving the hopes of a fifth consecutive win in the hands of Fnatic ONIC Philippines while regions like Indonesia and Malaysia still had two teams alive.
But as they saying goes, nothing beats family or in this case, nothing beats the "Super Family" as Fnatic ONIC Philippines are aptly dubbed as they took a perfect 3-0 run in the Swiss Stages and seeing a win streak through the Knockout Stage Upper Bracket against tournament favorites Selangor Red Giants, Falcon Esports, and Team Liquid Indonesia to secure their slot in the Grand Finals.
As Filipino fans hoped that Fnatic ONIC Philippines would break the upper bracket curse when Team Liquid Indonesia set-up a rematch with the Philippine champions, it was clear from the first game of the best-of-seven M6 finale that the Philippines was inching closer and closer to a fifth consecutive title all thanks to Fnatic ONIC Philippines' frontman and goldlaner Duanne “Kelra” Pillas whose mastery of the game led to a dominant 2-0 outing in the grand finals.
Though Team Liquid Indonesia tried to stay alive, denying the all-Filipino squad a sweep, Pillas did not want to prolong the series any further and called that he would end it all, heading to the base as his teammates distracted the Indonesian Cavalry.
As the lifebar of the base slowly receded, it was only fitting that the person to secure the Savage of M-series titles is the 'Filipino Savage' himself, with Pillas delivering the final blow to the base and giving the Philippines its fifth consecutive M-series trophy.
A true Savage in the pages of Mobile Legends Bang Bang history.
Kelra then closed the curtain with one of the most iconic lines in M-series history saying: "Ma-accept ko na lang yung 'Gold Standard' kapag nanalo ulit kami next year." (I will only accept the 'Gold Standard' monicker if we win again next year), a statement that ironically makes him the 'Gold Standard' given his preference to win trophies over individual acclaim.
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