AP Bren kicks off M5 bid with rematch against Burmese Ghouls

A highly-anticipated rematch between the Philippines' AP Bren and Myanmar's Burmese Ghouls will highlight the opening day of the M5 World Championships slated to be hosted by the country in December.

AP Bren, a rebranded version of Bren Esports, faced the Myanmar bets during the M2 edition of the Mobile Legends World Championships in January 2021, where the Filipinos reigned supreme after seven grueling games in the finals.

They will clash anew after almost three years but this time, both squads will parade new-look rosters.

Bannered by David "FlapTzy" Canon, Michael "KyleTzy" Sanson, Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano, Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo, and veteran Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel and led by coach Francis "Duck" Glindro, AP Bren will take on Burmese Ghouls on December 2 to kick off the group stages.

AP Bren, which recently captured the MPL Philippines Season 12 crown, will then take on Team Flash on December 6 and the second wild card team on December 7 to complete its Group C assignments.

Meanwhile, another Philippine representative in Blacklist International will open its campaign against RRQ Akira of Brazil on December 3 before slugging it out against the first wild card team on the 4th and Fire Flux on the 7th in Group B.

Indonesia's Onic Esports, which features Filipino import Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol and coach Denver "Yeb" Miranda, will have See You Soon of Cambodia, Triple Esports of Saudi Arabia, and Bigetron Sons in Group A.

Composing Group D are Indonesia's Geek Fam, TheOhioBrothers, HomeBois, and Deus Vult.

The group stage matches will see all 16 teams play in a single round robin format and participate in best-of-three matches per game. The top two teams from each group will then advance to the knockout stage while the bottom two teams will be eliminated.

The group stages will run from December 2 to 7 while the knockout stage is set from December 9 to 16. The Grand Finals is penciled in for the 17th with the finalists competing in a best-of-seven showdown.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News