HomeBois bested seven other teams in the Wild Card Stage of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2024 to clinch the final spot of the Group Stage, where they will vie against 15 other international teams for the coveted title and biggest share of the life-changing USD 3,000,000 prize pool. Hosted in Boulevard Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the final fight of the Wild Card Stage saw HomeBois successfully edged out Entity7 in a grueling Best-Of-five (BO5) match to earn the right to #SeeTheWorld on the Main Stage.
Malaysian esports organization HomeBois was founded by prominent esports figure Nureddy Nursal, known as Daddyhood. HomeBois gained recognition for its strong performances in local and regional MLBB tournaments.
WHERE WILL THE MALAYSIAN TEAM HEAD NEXT?
Photo Credit: MOONTON Games
For the MSC 2024 WildCard, HomeBois brought in a young MLBB star from the Philippines, Kenneth “Nets” Barro, as its Gold laner, and promising Indonesian talent Muhammad Julian “Udil” Ardiansyah as its Mid laner. The lineup also consists of established Malaysian players, namely, Muhammad Irfan “Sepat” bin Aujang (EXP laner), Muhammad Nazhan Mohd “Chibi” Nor (Jungler), Mohammad Zul Hisham “Xorn” bin Mohd Noor (Roamer), and Muhammad Akmal “Mal” bin Rozali (Substitute).
The HomeBois will compete in Group C alongside Liquid ECHO, Team Spirit, and Twisted Minds. The team’s first match will be scheduled for 3 July, at 14:00 (GMT+3) against Team Spirit.
“I am really happy and excited to fight in the Group Stage. But the moment I leave the venue today, I will remain focused on my task for the team. We need to set our emotions and focus on another mission,” said Assistant Coach Jeffrey “Jeff” Manforte.
“All of us (in the team) want to be champions. In the last MSC, I did not have the chance to go (to Group Stage). Now that I am here, I want to do better. This time, we are fixing our previous problems by getting some help from our imports, and we are ready to be better,” added Head Coach Khairul Azman “Pabz” bin Mohd Sharif.
ESPORTS CHARTS: MSC 2024 WILD CARD STAGE RAKED OVER 370K PEAK VIEWS
Data showing how Homebois’ matches have helped in boosting Wild Card viewership. (Photo Courtesy: Esports Charts)
The viewership figures for the MSC 2024 Wild Card stage have surpassed those of the M5 World Championship Wild Card, based on data from Esports Charts.
Among the most-watched matches of the Wild Card stage were those from HomeBois, which had 4 entries in the said stage. Their decider match versus E7 was the most-viewed, raking over 373,000+ peak viewers.
Artyom Odintsov, Esports Charts CEO, said in a press release that data shows how the biggest MLBB esports event ever is indicating that the MSC is not just catching up, but challenging the most iconic event in MLBB.
“MLBB’s expansion into the international arena is undoubtedly playing a key role in this success, attracting new audiences beyond the traditional Southeast Asia region. We expect the main stage of the MSC 2024 to continue this trend and set even greater viewership records!” Odintsov said in the same press release.
Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, said: “One of our key reasons for rebranding the MSC and bringing it out of Southeast Asia this year was to enable our teams and viewers to #SeeTheWorld – a reflection of the global and diverse nature of the MLBB ecosystem. We’re delighted to enable more teams from up-and-coming regions to participate in the MSC for the first time and for them to showcase their unique identities being part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.”
MSC 2024 GROUP STAGE HAPPENING SOON
For the Group Stage, each group will play a single round-robin BO2 match, wherein the top two ranked teams per group will advance to the Knockout Stage. The Group Stage starts from 3 to 7 July, with Falcons APBren and Xianyou Gaming in the opener. Meanwhile, the Knockouts Stage is set from 10 to 14 July.
The two lowest-ranked teams per group will bid goodbye to their MSC 2024 journey.
In the Knockout Stage, the top team for each group will play with the top two teams of the other groups. All matches will follow a BO5 format, and will start at 11:00 AM (GMT+3) daily. Meanwhile, the Grand Finals Day will be in a BO7 format, set on 14 July, at 13:00 PM (GMT+3).
