M6 World Championship team profile: BloodThirstyKings, the kings of North America

Images: MOONTON Games

After an unexpected third place finish in M3, BloodThirstyKings will be making their grand return to MLBB's biggest stage in M6.

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M6 World Championship is set to kick off on November 21, with 23 of the best MLBB teams from all across the world fighting to claim the lion's share of a $1 million prize pool and this year's MLBB world title. In this series, we'll be taking a look at all the teams that qualified for the Swiss Stage and their chances of becoming the 2024 MLBB world champions.

The fifth entry in this series will take a look at our first non-Southeast Asian team in BloodThirstyKings, who will be making their return to the M series for the M6 World Championship to represent North America.

BloodThirstyKings roster:

1. Ziameth-Jei “ZIA” Caluya - Gold Lane
2. Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun - Jungler
3. Jang “Hoon” Seong-hun - Middle Lane
4. Ian “FwydChickn” Hohl - EXP Lane
5. Tea - EXP Lane
6. Oscar “Shark” Vo - Roamer

The Kings of North America

After first breaking out in the scene with an unexpected third place finish in the M3 World Championship, BloodThirstyKings will be making their grand return to MLBB's biggest stage in the M6 World Championship. 

But while the BloodThirstyKings banner hasn't been seen since M3, its core of veterans in MobaZane, FwydChickn, Hoon, Shark, and ZIA still appeared in M4 and M5 with The Valley and TheOhioBrothers. This year, the band got back together to reform BloodThirstyKings to claim victory in the North America Challenger Tournament (NACT) and represent North America in the M6 World Championship.

With that said, BloodThirstyKings faced a lot of roster upheaval throughout the year before settling on a final roster to qualify for this year's MLBB world championship tournament. 

In February, Fwydchicken left for Gaimin Gladiators, followed by the arrivals of Chris "Mielow" Enobio, Peter "Basic" Lozano, Nicole "Nicholette" Huang, and Chris "Cole World" Cartagenas. The following months then saw more members come and go, including Marco "Marqt" Lacson in May, although the team still managed to claim the NACT Spring 2024 championship with a starting lineup of Mielow, MobaZane, Marqt, Basic, and Cole World in that same month.

But despite winning the NACT Spring title, the team disbanded in June and it seemed as if the BloodThirstyKings banner would not be waved in the M series for a third straight year. After months of uncertainty, FwydChickn, MobaZane, Hoon, ZIA, and Shark returned to the roster in September – just in time to compete in NACT Fall 2024 and try to qualify for the M6 World Championship.

However, BloodThirstyKings no longer looked like the dominant power in the league as they finished the Regular Season as the second seed behind Cloud9 – a squad that notably featured many of their former teammates like Marqt, Basic, and Cole World. 

BloodThirstyKings then started their Playoff campaign with a 3-0 sweep over Gosu Night Horde, only to fall in five games to Cloud9 in the upper bracket finals. BloodThirstyKings had to sweep Gosu Night Horde a second time in the lower bracket finals to earn a rematch with Cloud9 in the grand finals. It looked like Cloud9 would claim victory once again after cruising to a commanding 3-0 series lead, but BloodThirstyKings pulled off an incredible 4-3 reverse sweep to reclaim their spots as North America's top dogs and earn the right to represent their region in the M6 World Championship.

Since BloodThirstyKings' breakout performance in the M3 World Championship, North America had been considered as the strongest region in MLBB outside of its heartland in Southeast Asia. With most of the team's M3 roster making their return to the big stage this year, BloodThirstyKings will be a real threat in the M6 World Championship. 

Will they once again cause huge upsets? Or will they become the first-ever non-Southeast Asian team to win in the M series? Only time will tell.

M6 World Championship team profiles:

• Fnatic ONIC PH, the Philippines' top contender
• Aurora Gaming, the Filipino superteam
• NIP Flash, Singapore's rising stars
• CFU Gaming, Cambodia's finest

The M6 World Championship will take place from November 21 to December 15 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is split into three distinct phases: the Wildcard Stage from November 21 to 24, the Swiss Stage from November 28 to December 5, and the Knockout Stage from December 7 to 15. 

Of the 23 participating teams, 15 directly qualified to the Swiss Stage while eight others will start in the Wildcard Stage, where they will fight for the 16th and final spot in the Swiss Stage. For everything you need to know about the M6 World Championship, check here.