One last battle remained at the MWI 2024 tournament, which saw Smart Omega Empress taking on Team Vitality Female in the grand finals.
headline photos courtesy of David Koch and Marius Faulhaber
After a few days of brutal eliminations, and even more today, we reached the Grand Finals of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational 2024 at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With 
Team Vitality Female taking a 3-1 victory over 
Falcons Vega in the first semi-final, 
Omega Empress cruised through to an easy victory over 
Victory Song Gamers in the second, leading these two teams to an amazing battle in the deciding Grand Final.
The Empress is crowned
Going into the series, everyone expected the Indonesia reigning champions, VIT, to take an easy victory and reclaim their title as the best MLBB female team in the world. However, the Philippines team was never about to let that go so easily. Although we have become accustomed to seeing these two regions at the top, the grand final saw neither holding anything back, but only one could come out on the other side of the best-of-five as the champions. Having only just recorded two of the quickest games at MWI 2024, Omega Empress was on a high, as they pummelled through VIT in the first two games.
Zhuxin was one hero that they favoured, with Melissa being another, but it didn’t really matter, as the PH team left VIT in their wake quickly and decisively. Going into what would be the final game of the Grand Finals, VIT tried their best to hold off against the aggression and brilliance of their opponents, but it was never going to be enough. In game three, VIT seemed to have some windows into making their way back, but 
Kaye Maerylle “Keishi” Alpuerto Hayabusa was unstoppable – stealing Turtles, getting great pickoffs, and ultimately stunting VIT at every turn. It wasn’t only her that showed her prowess, with Sheen “Shinoaa” Perez Karrie and Mery Christine “Meraaay” Vivero's Ruby able to simply control the ex-champions.
The Empress’s never let up on their pressure, while somehow VIT’s entire team seemed slightly disconnected at each turn. VIT did not make anything easy, taking some fantastic fights when it was asked of them, but it just was not enough in the end. With that Smart Omega Empress took the top spot of the MWI 2024 event, as they stand proud and make history as the first team to become champions of the event at the Esports World Cup.
