ESPORTS
Team Spirit rises from underdog to MSC champion
For the first time since 2017, a team from outside Southeast Asia became the champion of an MLBB international championship—and here’s why.
Team Spirit has cemented its place among the world's elite esports organizations after capturing the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2026 title, becoming the first team from the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region to win the prestigious tournament.
The organization, best known for winning The International (TI) Dota 2 championships in 2021 and 2023, as well as the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) Dota 2 title in 2025, entered the Mobile Legends scene in 2024 by acquiring the roster of Deus Vult, one of the strongest teams in the EECA region.
The roster featured Mathaios "Kid Bomba" Chatzilakos (EXP lane), Stanislav "SAWO" Reshniak (roamer), Kemiran "Sunset Lover" Kochkarov (mid lane), Anton "HIKO" Pak (gold lane), and Sergei "Marl" Finashev, who was later replaced by Zaur "zaur egoist" Magomadov as jungler.
Before joining Team Spirit, the roster had already represented the EECA region on the international stage, making its world championship debut at the M1 World Championship in 2019 before steadily improving in subsequent tournaments.
Its breakthrough came during the M5 World Championship in the Philippines, where Deus Vult stunned the Mobile Legends community by finishing fourth. The team lost to ONIC Indonesia in the upper-bracket semifinals before bowing to Blacklist International in the lower-bracket finals, emerging as one of the tournament's biggest surprise performers.
Following the acquisition by Team Spirit, the roster dominated the EECA region by winning seven consecutive Mobile Legends Continental Championship (MCC) titles.
Regional success, however, was only the beginning.
Fresh off another MCC championship, Team Spirit entered MSC 2026 in Paris determined to compete for the international crown. Despite a major game patch that forced teams to adapt to a new competitive meta, the squad quickly adjusted while several tournament favorites struggled.
Led by team captain SAWO and star EXP laner Kid Bomba, Team Spirit advanced through the tournament by finishing the group stage with a 2-1 record, defeating Team Vamos in the knockout stage, and eliminating ONIC Indonesia in the semifinals.
In the Grand Finals, Team Spirit faced Yangon Galacticos of Myanmar in a tightly contested best-of-seven series.
After seven games, Team Spirit emerged victorious, 4-3, to capture its first MSC championship.
The victory marked a historic milestone, as Team Spirit became the first team from outside Southeast Asia to win the Mobile Legends Mid Season Cup, ending years of regional dominance by teams from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Once regarded as underdogs, Team Spirit has now established itself as a new global force in Mobile Legends esports.