It’s Labour Day when the PUBG Mobile Professional League Southeast Asian (PMPL SEA) Finals Spring Split 2020 lights up its metaphorical opening ceremony torch, a symbolism of the hard work that teams from seven SEA countries endured to get here. Regardless of their country of origins, each team has their own unique principles to bring to the circle, with different strengths and weaknesses. As top dogs of their respective national PMPL tournaments, the participating teams know not to underestimate their opponents if they’re going for gold.

Here are the five teams we think that will reach the top spot, based on their performance history:

Bigetron RA

The crowd favourite Indonesian team of Bigetron Red Aliens is a no-brainer when it comes to which team would bag the PMPL SEA Grand Finals championship.

The winner of the PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO) Fall Split Global Finals 2019 most recently came up on top at their very own PMPL Indonesia, accumulating 1251 points in the Regular Season (a whopping 445 points ahead of runner-up Aura Esports) and scoring four WWCDs and 233 points in the Grand Finals. Although their excellent former coach, Khairunnazri “Boyka” Bin Masli, left to lead his own Malaysian team (Bigetron AROV) two months back, they remain in top form with Made Bagus “Luxxy” Prabaswara helming the world’s best PUBG Mobile team.

Related: Bigetron RA reigns supreme in PMPL ID

RRQ Athena

Their Mobile Legends: Bang Bang cousins (RRQ Hoshi) may have emerged as victors of the MLBB Professional League Indonesia (MPL ID) Season 5, but their PUBG Mobile counterpart is a force to be reckoned with too.

RRQ Athena barely made it to the PMPL SEA Finals by placing 12th in the PMPL Thailand Grand Finals. But, as if the PUBG Mobile esports gods gave them a second chance, they were granted entry into the SEA Finals as reigning champions of last season’s PMCO Fall Split SEA Championship. Even though RRQ Athena lacks a little consistency in their performance (including their progress in the PMCO Fall Split Global Finals 2019), the Thai team’s PMCO SEA and PMPL Thailand Regular Season champion titles are more than enough to suggest that they would be a difficult team to eliminate.

ILLUMINATE The Murder

RRQ Athena’s fellow countrymen, ILLUMINATE The Murder, were the ones who took the cake in the PMPL Thailand Grand Finals, marking them as solid candidates for the PMPL SEA Finals throne.

Their consistency placing in the top five for almost all competitions (notably PMCO SEA and Global Finals 2019) is strong proof that they’re capable of dominating the PMPL SEA Finals if they pushed a little more. Despite losing a superstar in MADTOI to Team Secret last year, it hasn’t hindered RRQ Athena’s march towards becoming first-class players.

Team Secret

The global esports organisation may have a reputable Dota 2 squad, but Team Secret PUBG Mobile has carved its name in stone to be one of SEA region’s top PUBG Mobile team.

The Malaysian team has undergone numerous roster shuffles in the past year, but after conquering the PMPL MY/SG Grand Finals 2020 with four WWCDs and 138 kills (the tournament’s highest), it goes without saying that they’ve finally found their groove with the latest lineup.

The PMPL SEA Finals will be their biggest challenge yet – can BiuBiu lead the current squad of veterans to the coveted title, or was winning PMPL MY/SG a flash in the pan?

Related: Team Secret – Refining their secret formula for PMPL SEA Finals

BOX Gaming

The PMPL Vietnam Grand Finals Spring Split 2020 was the last PUBG Mobile tournament to determine Vietnams’s top three representatives, with BOX Gaming surprising everyone by emerging as champions, particularly after placing eighth in the Regular Season.

The Vietnamese PUBG Mobile team had a strong debut in the middle of last year, besting every other team in the PMCO Vietnam Spring Split 2019 before continuing their hot streak in the following PMCO Vietnam Fall Split. However, they can’t seem to grasp the meta when it comes to regional competitions, notably placing 8th and 11th in the PMCO SEA Fall Split 2019 Regular Season and Grand Finals, respectively. Nonetheless, all that is in the past, and BOX Gaming’s latest performance at PMPL Vietnam is a more accurate portrayal of how far they’ve come as a team.

The PMPL SEA Finals Spring Split 2020 will see 16 of the best PUBG Mobile professional teams across Southeast Asia battle not only for the lion’s share of the US$150,000 prize pool, but most importantly, the top two spots to represent Southeast Asia at the world stage of the PUBG Mobile World League (PMWL) Spring Split 2020 Eastern Division.

Here are the teams competing in PMPL SEA Finals 2020:

Malaysia

• Team Secret*
• Yoodo Gank
• Bigetron AROV

Thailand

• RRQ Athena
• ILLUMINATE The Murder*
• Golden Cat
• King of Gamers Club

Indonesia

• Bigetron RA*
• Morph Team
• Onic Esports

Vietnam

• BOX Gaming*
• TalenT
• BadBoy

SEA Wildcard

• Blacklist International (Philippines)
• Orange Esports.CG (Cambodia)
• Yangon Galacticos (Myanmar)

*These teams will also be representing their country at the PMWL.

PMPL SEA Finals commences tomorrow onwards (1 – 3 May) at 3.30PM (GMT+8). The tournament live stream will be broadcast on the PUBG Mobile official Facebook page.

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