M5 World Championship: Blacklist, ONIC, See You Soon first to qualify for Playoffs

The competition is heating up at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M5 World Championship, as three teams have qualified for the Playoffs while four others were eliminated after the fourth day of Group Stage action on Tuesday (5 December).

The Philippines' Blacklist International, Indonesia's ONIC Esports, and Cambodia's See You Soon (SYS) were the first to qualify for the Playoffs after securing Top 2 placements in their respective groups. Meanwhile, Malaysia's Team SMG, North America's TheOhioBrothers, Brazil's Bigetron Sons, and Saudi Arabia's Triple Esports were the first squads to be eliminated.

Here's how things stand after day four of the M5 World Championship Group Stage:

Blacklist International top Group B

Blacklist International are off to a great start on their campaign for a third-straight M-series finals appearance and a second MLBB world title at M5 so far. The Filipino powerhouse locked in a spot in the Playoffs after they swept Brazil's RRQ Akira, 2-0, and defeated Team SMG, 2-1.

With RRQ Akira and Turkey's Fire Flux Esports also going 1-1 so far, Blacklist only needs to beat Fire Flux to secure the top seed of Group B.

Meanwhile, Team SMG's valiant run from the Wildcards to M5 itself came to a quick end after they fell to both Blacklist and Fire Flux.

Group B still has two matches left to be played which will determine the second team from the group to qualify for the Playoffs. First up will be RRQ Akira taking on Team SMG followed by Blacklist International facing Fire Flux.

ONIC, See You Soon claim Group A Playoff spots

While all the other groups are still in flux, Group A has largely been settled with ONIC Esports and SYS claiming the two Playoff spots while Bigetron Sons and Triple Esports have been eliminated.

Both ONIC and SYS punched their tickets to the Playoffs after scoring sweeps over Bigetron and Triple. They will face off in the second to last match of the group to determine which team will claim the top seed. Bigetron and Triple will also close out competition in Group A in a largely meaningless affair.

TheOhioBrothers eliminated as Groups C and D remain contested

Meanwhile, Groups C and D are still being contested with no teams from either group locking in Playoff spots quite yet. However, TheOhioBrothers have already been eliminated after going winless in Group D.

In Group C, the Philippines' AP.Bren hold the top spot with a 2-0 win over Myanmar's Burmese Ghouls in their lone match of the Group Stage so far. The Filipino squad can lock in a spot in the Playoffs in their next two matches against Singapore's Team Flash and Mongolia's Team Lilgun. Flash and Lilgun both have 1-1 records while Burmese Ghouls lag behind with a 1-2 record.

Over in Group D, Indonesia's Geek Fam ID are in the top spot with a 2-1 record off, having won against TheOhioBrothers and Russia's Deus Vult but losing against Malaysia's HomeBois. Barring disaster, Geek Fam should be one of the teams advancing to the Playoffs from Group D.

HomeBois can secure a Playoff spot if they win their next two matches against Deus Vult and TheOhioBrothers. But should Deus Vult win against HomeBois, they will need HomeBois to also lose to TheOhioBrothers to advance to the Playoffs. Otherwise, there will be tiebreakers.

The M5 World Championship Group Stage will take place from 2 to 7 December at the EVM Convention Center in Metro Manila.

The Group Stage will see the 16 teams divided into four groups of four teams each, where they will compete in a single round robin with best-of-three matches. The Top 2 teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs while the bottom two teams will be eliminated.

The M5 World Championship Playoffs will follow a double elimination format with all matches being a best-of-five except for the Grand Finals, which will be a full best-of-seven series.

The Knockout Stage will also be held in two phases. The first phase will be held in the EMV Convention Center from 9 to 12 December and includes the upper bracket quarterfinals (9 to 10 December), the first round of the lower bracket (11 December), and the upper bracket semifinals (12 December).

For everything you need to know about the M5 World Championship, check here.

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