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Smart Omega Empress wins MWI 2024
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang may have crowned its new Queens of the sport.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang may have crowned its new Queens of the sport.
This, after Smart Omega Empress (OMGE) dethroned stalwarts, Team Vitality (VIT), to take the MLBB Women's Invitational (MWI) 2024 and write history as the first Filipino team to win a tournament at the Esports World Cup.
The all-Filipino team executed a clean sweep over their Indonesian rivals in the Best-Of-Five (BO5) Grand Finals, ending their 24-match winning streak dating back to 2021.
OMGE Roamer, Meraaay said during the post-match press conference: “We want to give honor to our country. I hope we made our kababayans (countrymen) proud, including those who went to the venue to support us. It feels like a dream for all of us. We would like to take our hats off to Team Vitality who gave us a good fight. We can already call ourselves world champions."
PHOTO COURTESY: MOONTON GAMES
"To all aspiring female MLBB players out there, continue what you're doing, especially if it is something that you love. We started from scratch, always almost losing every time, but we continued playing because we felt like this is something we love."
Along with the crown, the Empresses take home US$180,000 of the US$500,000 prize pool, the largest-ever purse in women's MLBB esports. Sheen "Shinoa" Perez was declared the Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP), taking home US$50,000.
Smart Omega Empress is fielded by Gold Laner Sheen "Shinoa" Perez, Jungler Kaye "Keishi" Alpuerto, Mid Laner Rica "Amoree" Amores, EXP Laner Gwyneth "Ayanami" Diagon, and Roamer Mery Christine "Meraaay" Vivero. The team is led by Coach Salman "KingSalman" Macarambon.
The MWI is the biggest MLBB esports tournament for women athletes and aims to provide female players with the platform to pursue their esports ambitions. The MWI 2024 was played in the Amazon Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the first time that the tournament was held outside of Southeast Asia, as part of the maiden Esports World Cup. The tournament brought together 12 international teams from around the world.
The third edition of the MWI smashed the tournament's previous viewership record. The MWI 2024 Grand Finals achieved 265,117 Peak Concurrent Viewers (PCV), according to Esports Charts. The previous benchmark of 179,024 PCV was set at MWI 2023, according to Esports Charts.
MOONTON Games head of esports ecosystem Ray Ng remarked about the event, saying, “the competitive women's esports scene has taken a huge step forward with the MWI 2024. We believe that esports is for everyone, so we're delighted to have given the world's best female athletes the stage and #TimeToShine. We'd also like to thank all of our fans who cheered the roof off the Amazon Arena."
The ladies are expected to return to the Philippines on July 30th.
