GOAL UNLOCKED — AP Bren makes history, conquers M5 crown

Filipino squad AP Bren made history after clinching its second M5 Mobile Legends World Championship crown on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

AP Bren is back on top of the Mobile Legends totem pole following a 4-3 triumph over Onic Esports in the grand final of this prestigious world tourney that was played before a capacity crowd and was witnessed by around five million live viewers from around the world.

For its conquest, the squad composed of team captain Angelo Kyle "Pheww" Arcangel, David "FlapTzy" Canon, Michael Angelo "KyleTzy" Sayson, Marco "Super Marco" Requitano, and Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo with coaches Francis "Ducky" Glindro and Vrendon "Vren" Pesebre pocketed the grand prize of $300,000 — or roughly P16.7 million.

But more than that, it captured golden milestones by becoming the first team in M-Series history to win a world title at home and becoming the very first squad to win a crown twice when it was still known as Bren Esports.

But prior to AP Bren's triumph, the Philippines, known as a Mobile Legends-crazed nation, has clinched the past three M-Series world championship titles with Bren Esports winning in 2021 in Singapore, Blacklist International in 2022 in Singapore and ECHO in 2023 in Indonesia.

AP Bren's season has been impressive.

FlapTzy and Pheww also joined former teammate Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno as the only Filipino players to bag multiple world titles with FlapTzy emerging as the Finals Most Valuable Player.

"My teammates won it for us," FlapTzy said following their conquest in the tourney that was participated by the best teams from countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey, United States, Myanmar and Mongolia.

"I cannot believe it. It feels surreal."

After winning the Esports Mobile Legends: Bang Bang category in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games earlier this year, AP Bren qualified for the M-Series world championship by winning the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 12.

With momentum on its side, AP Bren came charging into the M5 World Championship and took the Group Stage by storm, beating every opponent on its way in Burmese Ghouls, Team Flash and Team LilGun to kick off its campaign.

Once in the Knockout Stage, AP Bren defeated See You Soon and Geek Fam before losing to Indonesian powerhouse ONIC Esports via sweep in the upper bracket final.

The loss sent AP Bren crashing to the lower bracket where it eventually beat fellow Philippine representative Blacklist International, 3-0. Blacklist settled for third place with a pot money of $80,000.

With everything on the line, AP Bren went toe-to-toe with ONIC Esports in the grand finals, winning the rematch by a razor-thin 4-3 score.

Ducky said the key to winning the rematch was taking Filipino star jungler Kairi Rayosdelsol to deep waters.

"I think the main focus from what we adjusted from the upper bracket final (loss) was having Kairi play out of his comfort zone. I think that was pretty much it," Ducky said.

"As we progressed in the best-of-seven series, we discovered that there are certain heroes they prioritize. We managed to adjust on the fly. But overall the single most important adjustment that we did was having Kairi play out of his comfort zone."

Ducky, who won his third world title, credited their triumph to the hard work and determination of the players.

"My boys have been through a lot," Ducky said.

"I was really confident that they got it. They have it inside of them to perform in front of all those smiling faces."

M-Series will return to Malaysia as Kuala Lumpur hosts the M6 for the first time since staging the inaugural edition in 2019.