The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC) 2025 has lost one of its anticipated competitors.
North American squad S8UL Esports were officially disqualified from the $3-million MSC 2025 x Esports World Cup due to a rule violation involving two key players.
NA Mobile Legends stars Jang “Hoon” Seong-hun (mid laner) and Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun (substitute jungler) of S8UL breached the tournament’s official rules by participating in an event organized by Honor of Kings, a rival mobile MOBA game, according to a statement released by the MSC 2025 Committee.
“As outlined in the MSC Penalty Index (Section 2, Penalty Index B), a penalty will be imposed if a Team member engages in any competitor games’ event/ activity/ livestream or other way to give the competitor games’ exposure. The competitor games are defined as mobile MOBA game,” the committee said.
The MSC committee added that it had made efforts to prevent the disqualification, offering the team multiple chances to withdraw Hoon and MobaZane from HoK’s 48HRS RANKING MARATHON event on June 27 to 28. However, they elected to proceed.
As a result, both Hoon and MobaZane were disqualified from MSC 2025 effective immediately. The decision left S8UL unable to meet the tournament’s minimum roster requirements, and under the official MSC rules, the team is ineligible for emergency roster changes or force majeure considerations.
Consequently, Area 77, the runner-up of the North America Challenger Tournament (NACT) Spring 2025, has been granted S8UL’s slot in MSC 2025.
S8UL entered the MSC 2025 picture after acquiring the roster of BloodThirstyKings (BTK), the MobaZane-led squad that secured its qualification by defeating Area 77 in the NACT Spring 2025 grand final.
A veteran of the international MLBB scene, MobaZane has consistently represented North America on the world stage and famously led BTK to a historic third-place finish at M3—a breakthrough performance that put NA MLBB on the global map. However, despite his decorated track record, MobaZane, serving as S8UL’s substitute jungler, will not be taking part in this year’s MSC.
The MSC Committee reaffirmed its dedication to fair play and upholding the standards that define the competitive integrity of Mobile Legends esports. You can read the full statement from the committee.
