WCG MLBB 2023 Grand Final: Indonesia’s EVOS Icon emerge as the champions

The World Cyber Games (WCG) Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) 2023 has concluded with Indonesia’s EVOS Icon taking down the Philippines’ ECHO Proud for the title. The tournament was held in Busan, South Korea. Thirteen teams from around the world battled for the title and a share of the $40,000 prize pool.

With the MLBB Professional League (MPL) currently underway in Indonesia, the country’s organizations couldn't field some of their top players as they were busy with the league. The Philippines, however, will see the MPL begin in August and were able to fly to Busan with a stacked roster. Nonetheless, fans were treated to a fierce rivalry at the WCG 2023 as well with a Philippines vs. Indonesia intense finale and several upsets.

The main storyline in the WCG 2023 would be the disappointing performance of the defending world champions, ECHO. The organization’s main team and academy roster, called ECHO Proud, both qualified for the WCG.

Coming into the tournament, ECHO’s main team were one of the obvious favorites. They are the world champions, won the previous season of the MPL Philippines, and even placed third in the MLBB MSC 2023. However, they weren’t able to perform in the WCG 2023 MLBB. Trouble began from the first match of the group stage itself for the team. They faced Dewa United in the first game, a team which plays in MLBB’s Tier 2 league, the MDL in Indonesia. While many expected an easy win for ECHO, they fell 1-2 to the Indonesian squad.

They were able to make a comeback, though, to qualify for the Playoffs where they faced off against the academy team, ECHO Proud, in the first game. Again, they weren’t able to leave a mark falling 2-0 in comparatively one-sided matches.

They were knocked out of WCG MLBB 2023 in their next game of the lower bracket, as they fell to Onic Overload 2-0. This time, the series was a lot closer with ECHO looking set to win the first match. A late-game push by Onic denied them that chance, though.

With the main team disappointing, the weight fell on ECHO’s academy team, ECHO Proud to carry the country – and they almost managed to pull that off. They cruised through the upper bracket after taking down EVOS Icon 2-1 in the Upper Bracket to make it to the Grand Finals.

EVOS Icon set up another bout against the Filipino team, though, as they won the Lower Bracket Finals of the WCG MLBB 2023 to face off against ECHO Proud again. This time, though, they were better prepared and took the first two games with relative ease. ECHO Proud weren't going down without a fight, though, as they won the next two games to even the series 2-2. Game four, in fact, which stretched to more than 20 minutes saw both teams exchanging kills throughout the match. But, a late-game team fight victory for ECHO sent the series to a fifth game. EVOS Icon were able to close the game this time, though, with an easy victory.

They will now walk away with $20,000 of the $40,000 prize pool while ECHO Proud will pocket $10,000. The overall standings of the WCG 2023 MLBB are as follows:

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