Mirko criticized the introduction of qualifiers for the M8 World Championship in the MDL league
Commentator Frederick “Mirko” Handy Loco spoke out against the introduction of qualifiers for the M8 World Championship for academy teams from the Philippines and Indonesia. A video featuring the Filipino caster’s opinion was posted on the ZEkilled YouTube channel.
Lohho called the decision to introduce qualifiers for the MDL incredibly stupid. In his opinion, the MDL was created to scout talent and develop players, not to compete for slots in the main Mobile Legends: Bang Bang tournament. The analyst also suggested that major organizations like Team Liquid or ONIC could send their Filipino rosters to the MDL, where they would easily crush Tier 2 teams made up of rookies and secure invitations to M8, thereby devaluing participation in the main MPL league.
Instead of giving academy rosters the opportunity to qualify for the World Championship, Mirko suggested inviting the third-place teams from MPL Philippines and MPL Indonesia to M8, which would be more logical and help increase viewership for the broadcasts.
The M8 World Championship is scheduled for January 2027. The tournament’s wild-card stage will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, and the playoffs will be held in Istanbul, Turkey. Sixteen teams will compete for a prize pool of $1,000,000.
Photo by Lukmannil Hakim, MOONTON Games.
