AP.Bren joins Blacklist International in having multiple MLBB World Championship appearances.
AP.Bren is back at the top of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) gaming world and they're putting everyone else on notice for the M5 World Championship, which will be held in the Philippines.
Here's a look back on how they got here.
The M2 World Championship for Bren was the signal that the Philippines became the nation to beat when it comes to MLBB, with David "FlapTzy" Canon, Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno, Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel, Carlito "Ribo" Jr., and Allan "Lusty" Jr. getting the title.
Bren Esports encountered rough sailing in MLBB Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 9, ending at the bottom of the regular season along with Blacklist International. Their brightest star, KarlTzy, had moved to ECHO and they didn't have Ribo from the original M2 squad.
Bren tweaked their roster for Season 10 with Vincent "Pandora" Unigo and Rowgien "Owgwen" Unigo joining FlapTzy, Pheww, and Marco "Super Marco" Requitiano. This led them to a fourth place finish in the regular season with a 9-5 record.
Unfortunately, they fell to Blacklist in the upper bracket semifinals and to RSG Philippines in the lower bracket semis for fourth place.
Season 11 was the breakthrough for Bren with jungler Michael "KyleTzy" Sayson. They finished at the top of the regular season with an 11-3 record, with Owgwen hailed as the regular season MVP.
But the VeeWise tandem along with Edward for the Agents, as well as the rise of the Orcas proved to be too much for Bren in the playoffs.
During the offseason though, the squad of FlapTzy, KyleTzy, Pheww, Super Marco, and Owgwen picked up valuable experience and improved their chemistry after winning the SIBOL Combine and dominating the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
In the Snapdragon Pro Series Season 3 SEA – Challenge Finals, the rebranded AP.Bren got the better of ECHO, but fell to ONIC Esports and Bigetron Alpha in the upper bracket and lower bracket finals.
The MLBB Southeast Asia Cup 2023 champions based in Indonesia went on to with the Snapdragon Pro Series.
AP.Bren, though, got their bearings and bounced back in the IESF World Esports Championship, beating main rival Indonesia twice en route to the title.
But when MPL PH Season 12 came around, AP.Bren found themselves struggling a bit with a 7-7 regular season record.
They resettled just in time for the playoffs and managed to get revenge against a revamped version of Blacklist (playing without the VeeWise tandem), beating them 3-0 in the upper bracket finals and getting the upper hand in the grand finals, 4-1.
FlapTzy was hailed Finals MVP.
This means AP.Bren returns to the MLBB World Championships as one of the two Philippine representatives. They also get an invite to the ONE Esports MPL Invitational, which will be held next month.
They always say bilog ang bola. Well, this time it's Bren's turn at the top again.
(MDB)