A debutant in the M6 World Championship, can Twisted Minds bring home glory to the Middle East?
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 seventh entry in our series will feature Twisted Minds, a debutant in The M6 World Championship hailing from the MENA region.
Twisted Minds roster:
- Sulaiman “Saano” Alrashdi - Gold Lane
- Mahmoud “7oda” Ayman - Jungler
- Mohammed “Tarzan” Kharabah - Jungler
- Muath “Cuffin” Alkoraini - Middle Lane
- Ayman Othman Bin “Sanji” Muidh Alqarni - EXP Lane
- Ren “Mike Sama” Diong - EXP Lane
- Moayed “Trolll” Kharaba - Roamer
The new stars in the Middle East
One of the teams that has been steadily rising in stock since last year is Twisted Minds, who have ascended to the top of the food chain in the MLBB Professional League (MPL) MENA. Their first foray into the scene was in MPL MENA Fall 2023, where they successfully placed third behind Team Falcons and Triple Esports.
Twisted Minds only kept rising after they were invited to MPL MENA Season 5 and Triple Esports was hit with a one-year ban due to misconduct. On January 22, 2024, the team announced its roster with Sanji, Saano, Cuffin, Tarzan, Troll, and Coach Lyrick recruited from Triple Esports to bolster their ranks while releasing every member of the team besides Mike Sama. In addition, they also recruited 7oda from Team Occupy.
This recruitment drive proved to be a stellar strategic decision as Twisted Minds improved their standing in MPL MENA by securing the runner-up spot in Season 5. Unfortunately, they were once again bested by Team Falcons in the grand finals with a 4-1 scoreline.
After that, Twisted Minds participated in the 2024 MLBB Mid Season Cup in conjunction with the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but were eliminated in the group stage. They also successfully won the Saudi eLeague 2024: Major 2 and 3 before MPL MENA Season 6 started.
Twisted Minds finally showed what they were really capable of in the latest MPL MENA season. They topped the leaderboard in the Group Stage with a 5-2 match record and a 12-5 game record – giving them the edge over Geekay Esports and R8 Esports, who also had 5-2 match records but slightly worse 12-6 game records.
Twisted Minds' start in the Playoffs didn't go as they wanted, however, as they were swept by Team Falcons in the upper bracket semifinals. But persistence enabled them to flip the script and rise to the grand finals from the lower bracket, knocking out R8 Esports and getting their revenge over Team Falcons along the way.
Twisted Minds beat Geekay Esports on the last day of the tournament to win MPL MENA Season 6 with a 4-1 victory in the grand finals, securing themselves a spot in the M6 World Championship Swiss Stage and a chance to prove themselves against the best teams in the world.
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
- BloodThirstyKings, the kings of North America
- KeepBest Gaming, China's best bet
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.