Week 2 update: MLBB, DOTA 2, Free Fire

The Esports World Cup is well underway and as we reach the half-way point of Week 2, things are heating up with an action-packed day featuring Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), DOTA 2 Riyadh Masters, and the beginning of the Free Fire championships.

Here's an update on what's transpired so far and what's to come in this exciting hat-trick of tournaments.

MLBB Mid Season Cup Quarterfinals

In the blink of an eye, 23 teams have been whittled down to just eight as the Knockout Stages of the MLBB Mid Season Cup (MSC) get underway.

Only two of the eight Wildcard teams made it through to the Group Stages as Entity7 and HomeBois were able to advance. And remarkably, to the delight of their huge fanbase, HomeBois have taken their momentum all the way to the Knockout Stages too, securing the Malaysian organisation's status as championship dark horses. They now face a stern test in NIP Flash, a team that is well known in the MLBB scene but has underperformed at recent events.

The other major dark horse to look out for is Cambodian champions See You Soon who swept Team Falcons and last year's M5 World Championship runners-up Onic (now Fnatic Onic) to reach the Knockouts. But things won't get easier as they now have to take on reigning world champions AP.Bren (now Falcons AP.Bren) who went undefeated in the Groups.

Should Falcons AP.Bren advance, we could get an epic Semifinal where they face the only other undefeated team in the tournament in Liquid Echo. That is, if Liquid Echo manage to take down Falcon Esports. And on the other side of the bracket, Fire Flux Esports face an extremely difficult tie with Selangor Red Giants. The esports division of the Malaysian football club have gone undefeated in the last four months and don't look like stopping any time soon.

DOTA 2 Riyadh Masters Group Stage

The Riyadh Masters is the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour's second season and has the biggest prize pool of EWC with a staggering $5million available with the eventual winners taking home $1.5m.

After a challenging Play In phase which saw the shocking exit of G2 x iG and Azure Ray — who finished 4th at TI 12 — the remaining 16 teams have been split into two huge groups of eight where competition will be even fiercer.

In Group B, BetBoom Team should be favourites as they sit comfortably in second-place of the ESL Pro Tour leaderboard with 16,300 points. And they will be feeling particularly relaxed because of how many strong teams are in Group A.

Group A features the two heavy favourites to win the tournament, current pro tour leaders Team Falcons and last year's TI 12 winners Team Spirit. And if that wasn't enough, third place on the leaderboard and TI 12 runners-up Gaimin Gladiators are also in the group to make things even scarier for the other teams.

The top four teams of each group will advance into the Upper Bracket, the 5th and 6th place teams will get one last chance in the Lower Bracket, and the rest face elimination. With such strong competition, these Group Stages are a must watch.

Free Fire Knockout Stages

The Free Fire EWC championship is kicking of as the 18 teams compete to claim the lion share of the $1m prize pool and secure the first spot in the end-of-year Free Fire World Series Global Finals 2024 in Brazil.

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To start with, the teams have been separated into three groups of six as teams will look to rack up enough points to place within the top twelve and advance to the Point Rush stage. In Point Rush, no teams will be eliminated but the teams that finish highest after six games will start the Grand Finals with a headstart in points. Then, the 12 teams will play another six matches to decide who will claim the trophy.

The teams to look out for in Group A are Indonesia's most dominant team EVOS Esports and Brazilian organisation Fluxo who have three former world champions among their ranks.

In Group B, all eyes will be on Brazilian side LOUD who have a huge, passionate fanbase as well as second and third-seeds from FFWS Southeast Asia 2024 Spring, P Esports and Buriram United Esports.

And finally in Group C, the first-seeds from the SEA region Team Falcons are one of the tournament favourites. Thailand has traditionally been the strongest region in Free Fire so this all-Thai roster have set heavy expectations on themselves.