Team Spirit made history as the first team from outside Southeast Asia to win an official international Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) major tournament after claiming the MLBB Mid Season Cup (MSC) at the 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) in Paris, France.
MLBB Mid Season Cup Crowns An All-New Winner
Representing Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, the Russian squad defeated Myanmar’s Yangon Galacticos in a 4-3 nailbiter at the Grand Final, ultimately bringing home $1 million prize purse. The tournament marked the MSC’s European debut and featured early exits from previous champions, including Team Liquid Philippines (2025 champion) and Selangor Red Giants (2024 champion), both eliminated during the Group Stages.
Team Spirit defeated Team Vamos of Malaysia and ONIC of Indonesia during the Knockout Stage, making EECA the fourth competitive region to win the MSC title, following Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia – all of which are Southeast Asian nations. Meanwhile, ONIC defeated Team Falcons PH 3-0 in the Third Place Match to claim the 3rd place title, securing extra club points for the EWC club championship.
Team Spirit’s roster included Anton “Hiko” Pak (Gold Laner), Kemiran “Sunset Lover” Kochkarov (Mid Laner), Mathaios “Kid Bomba” Chatzilakos (EXP Laner), Stanislav “SAWO” Reshniak (Roamer) and Zaur “zauregoist” Magomadov (Jungler); Chatzilakos was named Finals MVP. The German EXP Laner said the team’s preparation, including a bootcamp in Malaysia and scrimmages against Asian teams, contributed to the win.
According to Esports Charts, the MSC recorded 2,888,884 peak concurrent viewers, making it the most-watched tournament at EWC 2026 to date, though the figure is behind the previous year’s all-time record. The other well-known esports title, League of Legends, ranked second in this chart, though it should be noted the Riot Games title has found more popularity in most regions of the world except SEA, where MLBB vastly dominates the viewership.
Pokdepinion: Took a continent and a half to finally break SEA’s MLBB dominance. Congratulations!
