A Team Loses World Cup Spot Because Two Players “Went to the Wrong Event”
Recently, a drama shook the international gaming community, especially Mobile Legends: Bang Bang fans. North American champions S8UL Esports, winners of the NACT Spring 2025, were officially disqualified from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC) at the Esports World Cup 2025 (EWC) held in Riyadh.
Why did this happen? Two key S8UL Esports players, Hoon and Mobazane, attended an event for a rival game, seriously breaking tournament rules. The “rival” game was Honor of Kings. These two players not only livestreamed but were also reportedly promoting the competitor’s game, which goes against MSC regulations.
According to the official MSC 2025 Committee announcement, this behavior violates the MSC Penalty Index. The rule states that if a player participates in activities, events, or livestreams for a rival game to boost its visibility, they face severe penalties. This time, the punishment was an immediate ban from competition for both players.
Organizers said they repeatedly gave Team S8UL chances to withdraw their players from the rival event to keep their MSC spot. However, the team still let the two players attend. Once the penalty was enforced, S8UL no longer had the minimum roster (at least five main players, one substitute, and one coach), leading to their disqualification. Since there was no force majeure like illness or accident, S8UL was not allowed to add new players.
NA World Cup Spot Goes to Runner-Up
With S8UL out, the MSC 2025 North American spot was quickly handed to Area 77, the runner-up of NACT Spring 2025. This move was seen as fair and necessary to uphold professional standards in the competition.
This incident sparked debate in the esports community: Is attending a rival game’s event really deserving of such a harsh penalty? Some argue rules must be strict, especially between direct competitors like Mobile Legends and Honor of Kings. Others feel banning the entire team over two players is too harsh.
No matter the perspective, this is a major lesson for esports pros. Every decision and public appearance can have serious consequences, especially when representing a region on the global stage.
