Selangor Red Giants (SRG) are the MPL Malaysia Season 18 champions. They beat Team Rey 4–3 in the grand final on Sunday 1 November, in a series where no team won two games in a row: SRG took the odd games, Rey the even ones, and SRG won the decider in 13:48. EXP laner Kramm was named Finals MVP.
Both teams had already qualified for the M8 World Championship main stage, so this one was for the title. SRG go as Malaysian champions, Rey as runners-up.
How the final went
| Game | Winner | Length | Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SRG | 11:04 | 1–0 SRG |
| 2 | Team Rey | 15:00 | 1–1 |
| 3 | SRG | 17:14 | 2–1 SRG |
| 4 | Team Rey | 14:09 | 2–2 |
| 5 | SRG | 14:32 | 3–2 SRG |
| 6 | Team Rey | 14:07 | 3–3 |
| 7 | SRG | 13:48 | 4–3 SRG |
Three things from the drafts
Rey never let Freya through. Team Rey banned Freya in all seven games. SRG banned Aulus in the first six, then changed their bans for game 7, taking out Masha and Kalea instead.
Suyou for the closing stretch. SRG drafted Suyou in each of the last five games, including the wins in games 3, 5 and 7.
A different game 7. SRG went to Carmilla, a hero they had banned three times earlier in the series, and Hilda, neither of whom they had played before in the final. Masha and Kalea had been picked or banned in all seven games. Atlas, picked or banned in seven of eight games on day 1, was not played at all: he was banned in games 1 and 7 and left alone in between.
The road here
SRG reached the final by beating Bigetron MY and Team Rey, both 3–0. Rey dropped to the lower bracket after that loss and beat Team Vamos 4–2 to earn the rematch. The full run is in our reports from day 1, day 2 and the weekend.
Next
The MPL Indonesia Season 18 playoffs start on Wednesday 4 November with Alter Ego vs ONIC and Bigetron by Vitality vs EVOS; Natus Vincere and Team Liquid ID wait in the upper bracket semifinals. Two more M8 main stage places are on the line.
The bracket and every result are on the MPL Malaysia Season 18 page.
Sources: results, picks, bans and Finals MVP from the Liquipedia MPL Malaysia Season 18 playoffs page (CC BY-SA 3.0).
