Both Team Liquid PH and Selangor Red Giants underperformed and were knocked out in a surprisingly competitive field in Group B.
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2026 Group Stage has produced some of the most surprising results in recent years, as last year's grand finalists 
Team Liquid PH (TLPH) and 
Selangor Red Giants (SRG) were among the eight teams that failed to advance to the Knockout Stage.
The MSC's GSL-style double-elimination Group Stage proved to be the bane of the teams that came to the tournament unprepared, as they could be sent home in as few as two matches. Joining TLPH and SRG in early flights home are 
Geekay Esports, 
IGNITE Gaming, 
True Rippers Esports, 
Guangzhou Gaming, 
Team Falcons, and 
Entity7.
TLPH, Geekay, IGNITE, and True Rippers bomb out of MSC 2026 in 13th-16th place with US$45,000 in consolation. Meanwhile, SRG, Guangzhou, Falcons, and Entity7 exit the tournament in 9th-12th place with US$65,000 for their efforts.
With TLPH and SRG now out of the way, the MSC 2026 championship is up for the taking between the eight teams that qualified to the Knockout Stage. The tournament's Top 8 includes 
Bigetron by Vitality,
Team Vamos, 
Yangon Galacticos, 
Aurora Gaming, 
Team Spirit, 
Team Falcons PH, 
ONIC, and 
PRO Esports.
Here's how all the action in the MSC 2026 Group Stage went down:
MSC 2025 finalists Team Liquid PH and Selangor Red Giants bomb out of MSC 2026
As last year's grand finalists, both TLPH and SRG were seen as the two biggest favourites to claim the MSC 2026 championship ahead of the tournament. But after a surprising turn of events, those two juggernauts failed to even make it to the Knockout Stage after abysmal performances in the Group Stage.
Defending champions TLPH notably failed to secure a single win before getting booted from MSC 2026. In their opening match in Group B, TLPH were soundly swept by rising Turkish powerhouse Aurora. Aurora crushed the defending champions in just under 10 minutes of action at Flying Cloud to kick off the match, then secured the 2-0 series sweep by claiming another win at Flying Cloud after 14 minutes.
Despite TLPH's devastating loss to Aurora, many expected the defending champions would still be able to bounce back in the lower bracket, especially after they got matched up with a significantly weaker opponent in Entity7 in the lower bracket quarterfinals.
However, TLPH failed to recover and were swept out of MSC 2026 by Entity7 in what could very well be the biggest upset in the history of MLBB esports. Entity7 outlasted the defending champions in back-to-back thrillers at Dangerous Grass and Flying Cloud, with both games ending at exactly 19 minutes and 28 seconds.
SRG put up a better showing than TLPH, but that only got them as far as the lower bracket semifinals of Group B before they were also unceremoniously sent home.
SRG opened their MSC 2026 campaign against Cambodia's PRO, with last year's runners-up looking up to par as they took the first game of the series at Expanding Rivers after 18 minutes. However, PRO were quick to tie up the series by winning game two at Dangerous Grass in just under 15 minutes of action. The Cambodians then secured the 2-1 reverse sweep by outlasting SRG in 22 minutes at Flying Cloud.
SRG avoided getting eliminated in the first round of the lower bracket like TLPH by taking down Geekay. But even that win didn't bode well for the Malaysian juggernauts as it took them three games to defeat the underdog MENA squad. SRG won game one at Expanding Rivers in 14 minutes before Geekay forced the match to a decider by winning at Dangerous Grass in 12 minutes. Last year's runners-up then secured their spot in the lower bracket semifinals by winning at Expanding Rivers just before the 11-minute mark, with 
Muhammad “Unii” Razman notably being subbed in as Jungler over Muhammad “Sekys” Zaman from this game onward.
SRG's poor form would then end up costing them dearly as they faced a strong opponent in Indonesian powerhouse ONIC in the lower bracket semifinals. ONIC opened the series by outlasting SRG in a 23-minute grinder at Expanding Rivers, then completed the 2-0 series sweep with an 11-minute win at Flying Cloud.
Vitality, Vamos, Spirit, and Falcons PH advance to Knockout Stage from Group A
While most eyes were on the action in Group B as TLPH and SRG bombed out, Group A saw all its top teams advance to the Knockout Stage as expected.
Both Vitality and Vamos made it to the Top 8 with a perfect run through the upper bracket. Vitality cruised through True Rippers and Falcons PH while Vamos swept aside Falcons MENA and Spirit.
Spirit then bounced back from their loss to Vamos by pulling off a 2-1 reverse sweep over Guangzhou in the lower bracket semifinals, earning them the third spot in the Knockout Stage for Group A.
Falcons PH would end up being the lone Filipino team in the Knockout Stage by surviving a challenging run in Group A. While they started strong with a sweep over Guangzhou in the first round of the upper bracket, their loss to Vitality in the next round put fear in the hearts of Filipino MLBB fans.
If Falcons PH failed to make it out of the Group Stage just like TLPH, it would be the worst result for the Philippines in any international MLBB event in years. Fortunately for Filipino MLBB fans, Falcons PH swept sister team Falcons MENA in the lower bracket semifinals to keep the country's hopes alive.
Yangon Galacticos, Aurora, ONIC, and PRO claim Top 8 spots from Group B
Amid the ashes of TLPH and SRG's demise in Group B, the four spots in the Knockout Stage for the group were claimed by Yangon Galacticos, Aurora, ONIC, and PRO.
Yangon Galacticos were the only team from Group B to enjoy a perfect Group Stage run, sweeping Geekay and PRO en route to the Top 8. After taking down TLPH in their opening match, Aurora defeated ONIC in three games to become the second team from Group B to advance to the next stage through the upper bracket.
ONIC claimed the third Knockout Stage spot for the group after taking down SRG. Meanwhile, Entity7 failed to capitalise on their upset over TLPH as PRO swept them in the lower bracket semifinals to claim the Group B's final Top 8 berth.
What's next in MSC 2026?
With the conclusion of the Group Stage, there will be a two-day break in the action before the battle for the MSC 2026 championship in the Knockout Stage on Wednesday (29 July). The Knockout Stage will be a single-elimination bracket with three rounds plus a third place decider match, with all matches in this phase being a best-of-five except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-seven series.
Here are the opening matchups for the MSC 2026 Knockout Stage:
- Team Vamos vs Team Spirit
- Aurora Gaming vs ONIC
- Team Vitality vs Team Falcons PH
- Yangon Galacticos vs PRO Esports
What is the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026?
The MLBB MSC 2026 is the first major international tournament of the 2026 competitive season and is being hosted as part of the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, France. The tournament gathers 16 of the best teams in the world, with 15 teams earning their spots by winning or finishing in the Top 2 of their respective regional leagues or qualifiers while the 16th slot is granted to the winner of the Wildcard.
The participating teams will be battling it out in Paris' Lenovo Legion Gauntlet arena for the right to call themselves the MLBB MSC 2026 champions, and claim the lion's share of US$1 million out of the tournament's US$3 million prize pool.
The MLBB MSC 2026's main event is split into two distinct phases: the Group Stage from 22 to 26 July and the Knockout Stage from 29 July to 1 August.
The Group Stage will split the 16 teams into two groups of eight teams each. They will then compete in a GSL-style double-elimination bracket with best-of-three matches, with four teams from each group advancing to the Knockout Stage.
The Knockout Stage will be a single-elimination bracket with three rounds plus a third place decider match. Each of the four teams that qualified to the Knockout Stage through the upper bracket of their respective groups during the Group Stage will earn the right to select their opponents from the four teams that qualified through the lower bracket of their groups. All matches in the Knockout Stage will be a best-of-five except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-seven series.
In addition, all matches in the MLBB MSC 2026 will be played with the ‘Annual Map Change’ feature, with four different variations of the in-game map being implemented randomly in every game. The four maps variations are as follows:
- Dangerous Grass–Dense bushes now cover key areas like Mid, Lord's pit, and turrets.
- Broken Walls–New wall gaps open shortcuts across the map.
- Flying Cloud–Near-base platforms let respawned heroes hover for 5 seconds, quickly reaching high ground.
- Expanding Rivers–The river now spills into nearby lanes, boosting movement speed.
