Day 3 of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s M4 World Championship is a proud day for Malaysians indeed as the number one seeded team from the region, TODAK placed first in Group B and solidified their ticket into the Playoffs.

As the longest day in the tournament so far, to say Day 3 wasn’t action-packed would discredit the eventful day of world-class MLBB that was on display.

Malvinas Gaming vs. ONIC Esports

Kicking off the day we had Peru’s Malvinas Gaming go head-to-head with Indonesia’s ONIC Esports in what would be an extremely one-sided affair. With ONIC’s Nicky “Kiboy” Fernando being awarded Match MVP for his playmaking capabilities on Franco. We also have to give credit to the team’s jungler Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol for showing up in the KDA department, with a record of 10/0/4, not dying once and maintaining 70% kill participation. With this loss, Malvinas Gaming would finish their group stage run with a 1–2 record.

Incendio Supremacy vs. Burn x Team Flash

The next match would be between Turkey’s Incendio Supremacy and Cambodia’s Burn x Team Flash which would go on to be an 18-minute neck-and-neck battle with Incendio Supremacy coming out on top.

The match wasn’t a bloodbath per se but the game was definitely close in the build-up. Although both teams acquired 17 kills each, the scoreline doesn’t really convey the 4.7k gold differential that Incendio acquired through focusing objectives. Incendio Supremacy’s Sidar “Tienzy” Mentese managed to find his form once again from his game against Falcon Esports on Day 1 and displayed a masterclass of jungling, awarding him the Match MVP.

MDH Esports vs. ONIC Esports

For ONIC’s last game of the group stage, they were pitted against Vietnam’s MDH Esports where ONIC would once again display their dominance as a powerhouse in their respective region. Ending with an 11.2k gold lead, ONIC absolutely dismantled the Vietnamese team by 17 kills to MDH’s mere 8 and destroyed 7 towers in comparison to MDH’s measly 1. This was all thanks to ONIC’s Kairi showing up once again and getting himself the Match MVP.

Burn x Team Flash vs. Blacklist International

The next game was between Burn x Team Flash and the Philippines’ Blacklist International. Although on paper this looked like an easy win for Blacklist, little did they know that losing this could have completely ruined their seeding going into Playoffs.

Luckily for Filipinos, that wasn’t the case as they showed why they are one of the favourites to take home the crown as they absolutely demolish Burn x Team Flash in every aspect imaginable. Burn x Team Flash was completely out-classed in every category, only getting 1 kill between all five of their players and only managing to take down 1 tower, compared to Blacklist’s 9. Blacklist’s Gold Laner, Kiel “Oheb” Soriano was awarded MVP for his performance on Claude.

TODAK vs. MDH Esports

Group B’s final match of the stage was between Malaysia’s TODAK and MDH Esports. TODAK had already solidified a Top 2 placement in the group but if they wanted to get the best advantage possible, they would have to beat MDH. On the other side of the spectrum, MDH were most likely to place at the bottom of the group so they had nothing to lose and this would be the perfect opportunity for them to make an upset, but unfortunately, they just couldn’t create a lead that they were able to capitalise on.

As one of the favourites to take home the trophy, TODAK demonstrated why that was the case as they completely obliterated MDH Esports in just 13 minutes. With a scoreline of 21–5 kills all while preventing MDH from taking down a single tower, MDH was just out-classed by the Malaysians. TODAK’s Gold Laner, Danial “CikuGais” Fuad was awarded MVP for his 75% teamfight participation on Valentina. This meant the TODAK would finish off the Group Stage with the first-place seed in Group B with a record of 3–0.

Falcon Esports vs. Blacklist International

What was supposed to be the last match of the day would go on to be the catalyst for an extra three games. The said match was between Myanmar’s Falcon Esports and Blacklist International.

Falcon Esports were the underdogs going into this tournament as not much was known about how they would stack up against the other top regions. And boy were we surprised. In what would be a 16-minute match, Falcon would catch Blacklist completely off-guard with their extremely aggressive playstyle, as they spent the majority of the game in Blacklist’s half of the map. Blacklist failed to take even a single tower whereas Falcon managed to destroy all nine of Blacklist’s. In the end, Falcon won with a 13.1k gold lead and Blacklist had finally tasted an overwhelming defeat. Falcon’s Mid Laner, Pyae “JustiN” Khant was awarded MVP for his performance.

But what this also meant was that Group A was tied for the Top 3 spots between, Falcon Esport, Blacklist International and Incendio Supremacy, which meant that the day would continue with three tiebreakers to close out the day.

Falcon Esports vs. Incendio Supremacy (Tiebreaker)

The first tiebreaker was between Falcon Esports and Incendio Supremacy, previously in their first match-up, Incendio Supremacy came out on top. But coming off of such a huge win against Blacklist International, Falcon Esports were on a roll. The 18-minute game between the two would be close but Falcon Esports manage to pull away with a lead in the latter half of the game, as they managed to take three Turtles and three Lords which assisted them in winning the match. Falcon’s Min “Naomi” Ko was awarded MVP as his roaming drastically helped Falcon Esports gain map control.

Blacklist International vs. Falcon Esports (Tiebreaker)

Next would be Blacklist International facing off against Falcon Esports. Falcon had a lot to prove going into this game as they knew that they would have to show that their first win against Blacklist wasn’t just a fluke. Blacklist on the other hand was hungry for revenge as they couldn’t let the underdogs discredit their status as a World Championship-winning roster.

Falcon Esports’ strong performance in the second game showed that they are a serious contender for the trophy and not just a lucky team that won the first game. Blacklist were once again out-classed by Falcon Esports as they excelled in every category from KDA to Objectives all thanks to Naomi once again who was awarded yet another MVP.

Blacklist International vs. Incendio Supremacy (Tiebreaker)

With Playoff seeding on the line, Blacklist International knew they needed to win this next match against Incendio Supremacy, the Turks weren’t going to go down without a fight.

In what was probably the closest game of the day, both teams were neck-and-neck throughout the entire game across the board. It wasn’t until the final teamfight that Blacklist took the initiative and went on the offensive, using what little lead they had to overpower Incendio Supremacy and managed to close out this nail-biting 21-minute game. In light of this victory, Oheb was awarded the MVP once again.

With the tiebreakers complete, Falcon Esports finish first in the group, followed by Blacklist International in second and Incendio Supremacy secure themselves the third place spot.

And that marked the end of Day 3 of the MLBB M4 World Championship. As the longest day so far, I’m sure MLBB esports fans were delighted with the tiebreaker games. But I think what people are dying to see is the match-up against Falcon Esports and TODAK. Falcon has shown that they aren’t to be doubted and that they deserve to be on this stage just like the rest of the teams. TODAK on the other hand has a lot to prove as well as for the longest time they have dwelled in the shadow of neighbouring regions. Will Myanmar be able to stand in Malaysia’s way? Or will TODAK manage to overcome them? We will just have to wait and find out.