MSC 2026 crowns its first non-SEA champion as Team Spirit wins thriller

Wasif Ahmed Published August 3, 2026

History was created at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid-Season Cup (MSC) 2026. For the first time in the tournament’s history, no Southeast Asian team was in the final, with Team Spirit coming out on top.

The MSC was earlier called the MLBB Southeast Asia Cup. It was rebranded in 2024 to become the Mid-Season Cup and include teams from around the world. Since then, all editions have been dominated by SEA teams, who have locked all top-three spots.

Coming into 2026, the expectation was the same. The main storyline wasn’t whether an SEA team would win, but which region from SEA would come out on top.

Expectations were on Team Liquid PH, given the fact that the esports organization has been struggling in the Esports World Cup (EWC) Club Championship rankings as well. It came second last year, with MLBB contributing nearly 1/4th of its total points. This time, it is currently out of the top 10.

Team Spirit and Yangon Galacticos make the grand final in an upset-ridden MSC

The first hint of what was going to happen at the MSC came when Aurora Gaming put up unconventional drafts to surprise Team Liquid PH in Group B. At the time, Liquid’s coach, Ong “Aeon” Wei Sheng, had said that it showed the team had some work to do.

Team Liquid, however, weren’t able to do that work and were knocked out of the competition by Entity7.

In the Knockout Stage, only three SEA teams survived, namely ONIC, Vitality, and Falcons PH.

Team Vitality and Team Falcons PH faced off in the quarterfinal, a match which the latter won, to push them into the semifinal, where they faced Yangon Galacticos.

On the other end, ONIC narrowly edged out Aurora Gaming 3–2 to face Team Spirit in the semifinal. The Indonesian squad, however, looked completely out of depth against the Russian powerhouse, falling to them 3–0.

Team Falcons PH and Yangon Galacticos turned out to be a closer affair, though. Yangon opened up with two back-to-back wins, leaving fans wondering if another 3–0 upset was in the cards.

However, Falcons PH regained their footing to push the series into the fifth game. This closely fought affair, though, ended with Yangon Galacticos coming out on top.

The Grand Final

Yangon Galacticos and Team Spirit may be newer names in the international MLBB esports scene, but this wasn’t their first meeting.

Earlier this year, the two teams met at the M7 World Championship’s lower bracket, where Spirit won 3–0.

This time, though, the stakes were completely different, and that was becoming the first non-SEA team to win the MSC. The winners would also get $1 million of the $3 million prize pool.

With such high stakes, both teams put up a performance worthy of a grand final. The best-of-seven series went into the seventh game, with Spirit ultimately winning 4–3.

With this historical win, it shows that MLBB esports is expanding beyond just SEA, not just in popularity but in competitiveness as well.

This year, the M8 World Championship is heading out of SEA for the first time too, and is being held in Turkey.

Featured image credit: MOONTON Games

Related to: Grand final: YG vs TS

Team Spirit

Yangon Galacticos

ONIC

Team Vitality

Team Falcons PH Mid Season Cup 2026 Playoffs