Fulcrum Esports’ M6 World Championship Swiss Stage predictions

Fulcrum Esports’ M6 World Championship Swiss Stage predictions

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Unlike the usual elimination stage used in the past M-Series, the sixth edition will feature a Swiss model. It will follow several titles such as Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and competitive Pokémon tournaments.

With that in mind, predictions and forecasting of the M6 elimination stage will be harder and more random than previous M-Series iterations. Teams will be randomly drawn after each round to determine who will face whom.

We’ll take a look at the eight Round 1 matches as we discuss the storylines and who will be prevailing against whom.

S2G Esports vs. Selangor Red Giants

This matchup has two feel-good stories to discuss. First is Mehmet “Lunar” Ilgun from S2G, who will be appearing for the first time as a member of the main five after missing out on M3 due to COVID and being on the bench in M4 for Incendio Supremacy. Then there is Muhammad Haqqullah “Sekys” Bin Ahmad Shahrul Zaman who took the league by storm and raised his profile from being a prospect from a town in Terengganu to one of the best junglers in the world.

Stories aside, this matchup will be a tough task for SRG as the Turkish league champions know a thing or two about SRG’s draft thanks to having coach Ren Paolo “Pao” Villanueva. For this time around, we’ll give this match to his former mentor coach Michael Angelo “Arcadia” Bocado and his boys.

Ulfhednar vs. BloodThirstyKings

Two of the best from the west will square off in an early marquee matchup, which interestingly the first time a North American side will battle a Turkish team in an S-tier MLBB tournament. Michael “Mobazane” Cosgun will take on his country of heritage, probably knowing Ulfhednar’s draft and playstyle as the latter went to a grueling wildcard tournament last week.

We’ll still give this to the more structured and disciplined side in Ulfhednar, as we think the former Fireflux trio of Sidar “Tienzy” Menteşe, Ahmet “Rosa” Batır, and Furkan “APEX47” Akbulut will be superior against their NA counterparts. Will Rosa have to thank Beyoncé again, or will we have the answer to “Ian “Fwydchckn” Hohl do prevail once again at the EXP… did he?”

NIP Flash vs. CFU Gaming

Cambodia First Unite’s ideology is to promote and strengthen MLBB in Cambodia using homegrown players. NIP Flash on the other hand has made great use of its resources by scouting some of the best foreign talent available. This difference in ideals and styles outside of the Land of Dawn will now be put to the test, this time on the world stage.

Our highlight of the match is between their veteran roamers Chhuon “Oppi” Phengkong and Akihiro “JPL” Furusawa, who will meet once again in the M-Series for the first time since M3. We’ll give this match to the Singaporean side as we think their MSC 2024 momentum will be carried all the way to M6.

Team Spirit vs. Maycam Evolve

It is still fresh to think that we don’t have a Brazilian team representing Latin America, with Maycam Evolve sweeping RRQ Akira in the latter’s home country. For Stanislav “SAWO” Reshnyak and Kemiran “Sunset Lover” Kochkarov, this will be the second time they will face an Argentinian side after beating Malvinas Gaming back in their Na’Vi days.

We will again give this to the more experienced side as we see the former Sporting Cristal Esports boys will find a tough time against Team Spirit’s main carries Anton “Hiko” Pak and Alexander “ONESHOT” Sharkov.

Twisted Minds vs. Team Vamos

We will have a reunion of sorts between Coach Hendrich “Lyrick” Clahi and Kenneth “Nets” Barro, with the two being on ONIC Philippines last Season 11 before the content creator-turned-coach left for KSA.

This will be a much easier side to guess as we see Vamos having a better time than all of the past matches and winning this tie, despite the core of Twisted Minds having momentum on their side beating FNOC-heavy Team Indonesia in the IESF.

Falcon Esports vs. Aurora MLBB

Well, well, well, Myanmar vs. the Philippines in the M-Series is a tale as old as time, from Sunsparks vs. Burmese Ghouls in M1, Burmese Ghouls vs. Bren Esports in M2, Blacklist International vs. Falcons Esports in M4, and AP.Bren vs. Burmese Ghouls in M5. This year, we are treated with yet another PH vs. MM matchup in what we can say is an underrated rivalry between the two regions.

The new Falcons Esports lineup, made of mostly former Fenix Esports players, will give Aurora a challenge but the more experienced Pinoy side will be the team on top as we see it, given their strong momentum from MPL to the ESL Snapdragon.

KeepBest Gaming vs. RRQ Hoshi

The Kingdom will head to M6 with some brand new faces led by RRQ mainstay Schevenko “Skylar” Tendean as they will see the Chinese champions led by Kenneth “Saxa” Fedelin. With DFYG having a strong showing in the wildcard, we can expect the same against the team that defeated Kiel VJ “Kielvj” Cruzem in the M6 China qualifiers.

We do expect to see RRQ Hoshi progressing past them, but we are hoping to see KBG give the Kingdom a run for their money with Chinese MLBB teams improving through the seasons.

Team Liquid ID vs. Fnatic ONIC Philippines

The main course for this round is a matchup between two institutions of esports, as Liquid’s M6 reps will face against Fnatic’s reps. With both fielding squads who are relatively new to the M-Series and also being the champions of the two strongest regions in MLBB, expect fire against fire with the two showing off both aggression, dive composition, and calculated approaches.

However, we got a spoiler in the ESL Snapdragon Pro Series Open Finals, with this matchup incidentally happening on the last day of the Open Finals. Advantage will go to FNOP as we see the main carries Duane “Kelra” Pillas and King Cyric “K1NGKONG” Perez prevail once more against Favian “Faviannn” Bayu Putra and Sultan “AeronnShikii” Muhammad, although the much-see TV here is between midlaners Frince Miguel “Super Frince” Ramirez and Yehezkiel “Yehezkiel” Wiseman.