RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, 30 June – HomeBois bested seven other teams in the Wild Card Stage of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2024 to clinch the final spot of the Group Stage, where they will vie against 15 other international teams for the coveted title and biggest share of the life-changing USD 3,000,000 prize pool. Hosted in Boulevard Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the final fight of the Wild Card Stage saw HomeBois successfully edged out Entity7 in a grueling Best-Of-five (BO5) match to earn the right to #SeeTheWorld on the Main Stage.
Malaysian esports organization HomeBois was founded by prominent esports figure Nureddy Nursal, known as Daddyhood. HomeBois gained recognition for its strong performances in local and regional MLBB tournaments.
HomeBois brought in young starlet from the Philippines Kenneth "Nets" Barro as its Gold laner and promising Indonesian talent Muhammad Julian "Udil" Ardiansyah as its Mid laner. The lineup also consists of established Malaysian players, namely, Muhammad Irfan "Sepat" bin Aujang (EXP laner), Muhammad Nazhan Mohd "Chibi" Nor (Jungler), Mohammad Zul Hisham "Xorn" bin Mohd Noor (Roamer), and Muhammad Akmal "Mal" bin Rozali (Substitute). HomeBois will compete in Group C alongside Liquid ECHO, Team Spirit, and Twisted Minds. The team's first match will be scheduled for 3 July, at 14:00 (GMT+3) against Team Spirit.
"I am really happy and excited to fight in the Group Stage. But the moment I leave the venue today, I will remain focused on my task for the team. We need to set our emotions and focus on another mission," said Assistant Coach Jeffrey "Jeff" Manforte.
"All of us (in the team) want to be champions. In the last MSC, I did not have the chance to go (to Group Stage). Now that I am here, I want to do better. This time, we are fixing our previous problems by getting some help from our imports, and we are ready to be better," added Head Coach Khairul Azman "Pabz" bin Mohd Sharif.
Credit: Esports Charts
The inaugural Wild Card Stage at the MSC 2024 set a new viewership benchmark for Peak Concurrent Views (PCV); it had 373,543 PCV, according to esports analytics agency, Esports Charts, eclipsing the M5 World Championship Wild Card record of 271,822 PCV. HomeBois was featured in four out of five top Wild Card matches in terms of peak viewership. The Malaysia-based squad is also declared the most popular team in terms of average viewers.
Credit: Esports Charts
"The viewership figures for the MSC 2024 Wild Card stage have surpassed those of the M5 World Championship Wild Card, indicating that the MSC is not just catching up, but challenging the most iconic event in MLBB. MLBB's expansion into the international arena is undoubtedly playing a key role in this success, attracting new audiences beyond the traditional Southeast Asia region. We expect the main stage of the MSC 2024 to continue this trend and set even greater viewership records!" shared Artyom Odintsov, Co-Founder and CEO of Esports Charts.
Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOOTON Games, said: "One of our key reasons for rebranding the MSC and bringing it out of Southeast Asia this year was to enable our teams and viewers to #SeeTheWorld – a reflection of the global and diverse nature of the MLBB ecosystem. We're delighted to enable more teams from up-and-coming regions to participate in the MSC for the first time and for them to showcase their unique identities being part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh."
MSC 2024 action continues, Group Stage starts on 3 July
For the Group Stage, each group will play a single round-robin BO2 match, wherein the top two ranked teams per group will advance to the Knockout Stage. The Group Stage starts from 3 to 7 July, with Falcons APBren and Xianyou Gaming in the opener. Meanwhile, the Knockouts Stage is set from 10 to 14 July.
The two lowest-ranked teams per group will bid goodbye to their MSC 2024 journey.
In the Knockout Stage, the top team for each group will play with the top two teams of the other groups. All matches will follow a BO5 format, and will start at 11:00 AM (GMT+3) daily. Meanwhile, the Grand Finals Day will be in a BO7 format, set on 14 July, at 13:00 PM (GMT+3).
