PHL wins Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Women’s Invitational
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A new era dawns for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) women’s esports. Smart Omega Empress (OMGE) on Saturday 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.
Along with the crown, OMGE took home $180,000 (About P10.5 million) of the $500,000 prize pool, the largest-ever purse in women’s esports. Sheen “Shinoa” Perez was declared the Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP), taking home $50,000 (about P2.9 million).
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.
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 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.
Ray Ng, Head of Esports Ecosystem at MOONTON Games, said: “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.”