M7 World Championship Final to be Held in Indonesia

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) developer MOONTON Games has officially revealed that the M7 World Championship Final will take place in Indonesia in January 2026. This announcement comes just ahead of the M6 World Championship grand finals, which recently returned to its inaugural venue, Axiata Arena, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A Historic Venue for MLBB

This will be the second time Indonesia hosts the M World Championship Series, following the M4 World Championship held in January 2023. With this announcement, Indonesia joins Singapore and Malaysia as a two-time host of the prestigious M World Championship Series.

Recap of the M4 World Championship

The M4 World Championship took place at the Tennis Indoor Stadium Senayan, where ECHO claimed victory over M3 champions Blacklist International with a decisive 4-0 sweep, securing the Philippines its third consecutive MLBB world title.

Indonesia's Strong MLBB Presence

Indonesia's selection as the host for the M World Championship series for a second time is no surprise. The country has established itself as a significant region in MLBB esports, with millions of casual players and a plethora of high-profile professionals.

Additionally, Indonesia boasts the largest MLBB Professional League (MPL), known for breaking viewership records annually. The latest edition, MPL Indonesia Season 14, achieved a remarkable milestone with 3.9 million peak viewers during the thrilling seven-game grand finals between Team Liquid ID and RRQ Hoshi.

Looking Ahead to M7 World Championship

As the M6 World Championship approaches its conclusion, the return of the M World Series to Indonesia is poised to ensure a successful M7 World Championship, celebrating the vibrant MLBB community in the region.

Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen Officially Join Tundra Esports

With the roster lock deadline for The International 12 (TI12) qualifiers just a few days away, attention turns to teams that still need to finalize or unveil their last lineups. Surprisingly, even a well-established squad like Tundra Esports might be in for a major shakeup. There's a buzz surrounding the possibility of them adding Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen, a former two-time TI champion, to their roster. This speculation gains traction as Leon "Nine" Kirilin, Tundra's midlaner, has been observed playing support roles in public matches lately. Meanwhile, Martin "Saksa" Sazdov, the team's support player who has been dealing with health concerns, appears to have abstained from ranked games in recent days.

Nine, who has been an integral part of Tundra's roster for the past two and a half years, has predominantly held the midlane position in both professional matches and ranked games. However, doubts began to arise when recent match records revealed him playing in the support role. According to data from Dota 2 Pro Tracker, Nine has engaged in 37 games across the last eight days, using primarily Skywrath Mage and Rubick in the support role on his two accounts. This has fueled speculations about the potential addition of Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen to Tundra, especially considering Martin "Saksa" Sazdov's history of missing tournaments due to health-related issues in recent months. Saksa's withdrawals from events like the Riyadh Masters 2023, Bali Major 2023, and DreamLeague S20 have been attributed to anxiety, sleep disturbances, and mental health challenges. During this period, Kurtis "Aui_2000" Ling has temporarily filled in for the team. If Nine is indeed transitioning to the support role and Aui_2000 wishes to focus on coaching, Saksa might take an extended hiatus from competitive Dota 2, potentially opening up a spot in the team. Meanwhile, Topson, who has shown renewed interest in competitive Dota 2 this year, continues to play midlane heroes in public games. On YouTube, Topson recently posted a cryptic image of himself smiling, responding enigmatically to the community's query about whether the rumor is true or not. The situation concerning Tundra's future, particularly with regards to Topson, remains uncertain. It's possible that even if Saksa is unavailable, Topson might not be the immediate replacement as current rumors suggest. Any forthcoming roster changes are likely to be disclosed to the public in the coming days.

Ana’s Outstanding Plays Earn T1 a Win in the Dota2 Regional Qualifiers

The International 2022 (TI11) Regional Qualifiers are starting to heat up as the final set of qualifiers are beginning today. Both Western Europe (WEU) and Southeast Asia (SEA) regions are in the mix and T1’s newest roster faced off against Execration in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals of TI11’s SEA Regional Qualifiers. The series saw Anathan "ana" Pham carry T1 to victory as the team secured a 2-0 win over Execration.

Following this win, T1 will face RSG in the Upper Bracket Semi Finals in a couple of days while Execration will fall to the Lower Bracket.
T1 vs Execration: Match recap

The community had high expectations from T1, as the organization recently picked up two-time TI winners Anathan "ana" Pham & Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen to replace the departing Karl "Karl" Baldovino & Kim "Gabbi" Santos.
 

 

Game One

Game one saw T1 drafting an unconventional Marci carry for ana whilst picking up Morphling and Nature’s Prophet. On the opposing side, Execration picked up a carry Pudge for Jinn "Palos" Lamatao along with Shadow Fiend (SF) and Death Prophet in the offlane.

The early game was going horribly for T1 as Topson was constantly being pressured in the mid lane. On the other hand Ana’s Marci was dominating his lane and this allowed the rest of T1 to help Topson recover in the mid game. Execration had no answers for the carry Marci as it called the game at 30 minutes, giving T1 its first victory of the series.
 

Game Two

Game Two of the series saw Execration retaining the Death Prophet and Shadow Fiend once again while also picking up Lycan as an offlane hero. On the other side, T1 went for one of Topson’s signature heroes, Pugna while also retaining the Morphling and Marci.

This time, Execration was the aggressor as it was constantly winning team fights in the early game. However, ana’s Morphling was playing very well as he turned things around for T1 in the later stages of the game. Despite attempts from Justine "Tino" Grimaldo’s Lycan to force a third game by backdooring T1’s base, T1 managed to end the game at 52 minutes to close the series with a 2-0 stomp.

Despite having a short time to build chemistry with other members of T1, Anathan "ana" Pham had an outstanding performance, as he managed to obtain a combined KDA of 24/2/17 and only died once in both games. Following this victory, T1 will move on to the Upper Bracket Semi Finals and shall face off against RSG in two days. Execration has a perilous journey ahead as the team is on its final chance to qualify to TI11 through the Lower Bracket.

Dota 2’s TI11 Battle Pass Official Release Date

Get your wallets ready because the TI11 Battle Pass is almost here. Valve announced on June 9 that they changed the schedule of the TI11 Battle Pass so that players could grind out their rewards even after The International 2022 ends in October.

Previous TI Battle Passes were always released months before The International, with fans following the rise of the tournament’s prize pool as the tournament’s date came nearer. With the date set, fans will finally find out if this year’s TI Battle Pass will be able to surpass TI10’s massive US$ 40,018,195 collective prize pool. Every TI, Valve always provides a US$1,600,000 base prize pool, and the rest of it comes from the Battle Pass. TI1 and TI2 had the same total prize pool of US$1.6 million, but in the years that followed, each tournament boasted a higher prize pool, year after year, thanks to their respective Battle Passes. Similar to previous TI Battle Passes, fans can probably expect a new Arcana set and possibly a few new Personas from heroes in the recently released Dota: Dragon’s Blood: Book 3 Netflix show.

Team Spirit wins Arlington Major Dota2 Championship

After 4 hard-fought games against PSG.LGD, Team Spirit has claimed the Arlington Major championship and cemented itself as possibly the favorite to win TI11. Team Spirit has won the Arlington Major, claiming the lion’s share of the $500,000 prize pool. The event also marks a rematch of the grand finals of The International 2021. While all players contributed with excellent play, Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov stood out with stellar performances on Beastmaster and Axe. This further solidifies Team Spirit’s direct invite status for The International 2022 in Singapore, but makes a strong case that this squad will join OG as the only two-time The International champions.

 

Game one pitted Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk’s Phantom Lancer against Wang “Ame” Chunyu’s carry Pudge. After a relatively even game, PSG.LGD used Ame’s Aghanim’s Scepter to survive Black Hole and rush the Dire ancient. Game two started at a similar pace, with Ame’s Naga Siren earning 20,000 net worth at 29 minutes. Despite the draft appearing to favor PSG.LGD late game, Team Spirit held out for a 75-minute victory to even the score 1-1. PSG.LGD picked Naga again for game three, but Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov’s Beastmaster quickly set the pace with a 16-minute Helm of the Dominator. Three minutes, two fights, and one Roshan later, Team Spirit began knocking on mid barracks. One disastrous team fight later, and Spirit went up 2-1 in the biggest stomp of the Arlington Major grand final. Now on its last legs, PSG.LGD drafted an early Earth Spirit with Io and Razor. Spirit answered with Axe and carry Bristleback. PSG.LGD quickly took the lead after ransacking Team Spirit’s ancient stack, but the Russian squad stole it back after a clutch Relocate Spell Steal from Miroslaw “Mira” Kolpakov. Despite losing the first Roshan, Team Spirit smoothly won two team fights and rushed down mid lane. Now with just one lane of barracks, PSG.LGD baited Spirit into overextending, cashing in Ame’s buyback to turn the tide. Spirit turned its attention to Roshan, but the ensuing team fight retired PSG.LGD’s Chaos Knight for two minutes. After an avalanche of LGD buybacks, Yatoro’s Bristleback finally started on the enemy ancient, knocking it down and securing Team Spirit the Arlington Major championship.

Team Spirit Arlington Major championship, TI11 roster

Team Spirit sported the following Dota 2 roster for its championship run at the Arlington Major:

    Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk
    Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek
    Magomed “Collapse” Khalilov
    Miroslaw “Mira” Kolpakov
    Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov
    Airat “Silent” Gaziev (Coach)

With this victory, the team also establishes itself as the favorite to win The International 2022. If they do so, Team Spirit will become the second team to win consecutive TIs. If previous TIs are any indication, TI11 could break the record for the largest esports prize pool. That record currently belongs to TI10. That said the record may not be broken this year due to Valve’s new approach to The International Battle Pass. Other likely contenders for TI11 include fellow Major champion OG and Arlington runner-up PSG.LGD.

Marci From Dota: Dragon's Blood Will Be Dota 2's Newest Hero

Dota 2‘s newest hero was announced by Valve during The International 10. Who is it, you ask? Why, it’s no other than Marci, Mirana’s servant and muscle, originally introduced in the Netflix animated series DOTA: Dragon’s Blood. Developer Valve Software announced on Saturday (16 October) that Marci, a character from DOTA: Dragon's Blood the Dota 2 Netflix animated series will be joining the game as a full-fledged hero this fall.

Valve announced Marci will be the 121st hero to join Dota 2's extensive roster of combatants after the upper bracket finals of The International 10 (TI10), this year's iteration of the game's annual world championship tournament, which saw Chinese team PSG.LGD book their ticket to the grand finals and send European powerhouse Team Secret to the lower bracket finals. In DOTA: Dragon's Blood, Marci is the loyal servant of Mirana, Princess of the Moon, among the most iconic Dota 2 heroes and one of the principal characters of its animated series. Marci has become quite the favourite among fans of both Dota 2 and DOTA: Dragon's Blood, due to her expressive and bubbly demeanour — which shines through despite her being mute — that belies her fierce loyalty and proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. It’s already a tradition at this point, that Valve announces a brand new hero towards the tail end of The International. This time around, it turns out to be Marci who Valve says will be released this Fall. It’s going to be interesting to see how Marci will be portrayed in the game, as she will be the game’s first mute character (if Io and Phoenix would not be considered mute). The International 10 continues this weekend, with the Grand Finals commencing on Sunday. As of press time, Invictus Gaming is going against Team Spirit. The winner of this match will go against Team Secret in the lower bracket finals. Meanwhile, PSG.LGD is once again on the precipice, waiting in the Grand Finals for their worthy opponents. Faith_bian and y’ of PSG.LGD are both two-time hopefuls in the tournament, as they’ve originally won the Aegis of the Immortals during TI6 as part of Wings Gaming. Team Secret also has two TI hopefuls: Matumbaman and Puppey.

Valorant: Phoenix

Phoenix is an offensive VALORANT agent, who specializes in hunting down enemies, while crippling their ability to fire back. The Blaze ability creates walls that blocks vision and deals damage, allowing Phoenix to sneak past defended open areas, while Curveball blinds enemies, even if they're hinding behind corners. In combination, Hot Hands and the Run it Back ultimate make Phoenix a very durable duelist and players who like to play aggressively will really enjoy this agent's gameplay.

Abilities

Hot Hands (E) – Throw a fireball that explodes after a short delay on impact with the ground. The fire zone damages enemies but heals Phoenix.

Blaze (C) – Cast a flame wall that blocks enemy vision and damages anyone passing through it. The wall can be bent both horizontally and vertically so you can cover ramps, too.

Curveball (Q) – Cast a curved flare that bursts into a light after a short delay, temporarily blinding anyone and can be curved left and right.

Run it Back (X) – Marks your current location. If you die while this ability is active, or when it expires, you’ll respawn at the marked location with full health.