KUALA LUMPUR: Despite several low-scoring games at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M5 Wild Card event last week, Malaysia's Team SMG still managed to secure a spot in the upcoming M5 World Championships in Manila.
On Sunday, SMG snatched one of the two final slots at stake when they edged Peru's Imperio 3-1 in the crossover match at JioSpace Petaling Jaya.
SMG reached the crossover stage after topping Group A with three wins from three matches against Saudi Arabia's Team Falcons, Nepal's 4Merical eSports and Laos' Niightmare Esports.
While he was happy to see his team qualify for the world meet on Dec 2-17, SMG coach Ren Paolo Villanueva, better known as Coach Pao, pointed out that there can be no room for error when they face the world's best teams in Manila.
At the World Championship, SMG are in Group B with M3 champions Blacklist International from the Philippines, Fire Flux Esports from Turkey and Brazil's RRQ Akira.
"As I have mentioned before, we need to be disciplined.
"In the Wild Card, we were not perfect, and we had several low-scoring games.
"We need to improve our decision-making and reduce making mistakes.
"The big players won't be as forgiving, and we will face consequences," said the Filipino.
For the record, SMG are the second Malaysian team to qualify for the M5 World Championship.
HomeBois were the first local team to secure their place by being crowned champions at the MLBB Malaysian Professional League (MPL MY) in October.
The M5 marks SMG's second appearance at the World Championship after their debut in 2021 at the M3 in Singapore.
Back then, SMG failed to clear the group stage.
The M5 this year will feature the world's top 16 teams, who will battle it out for a slice of the US$900,000 (RM4.2 million) prize pool.