Global Ban System May Ruin MPL, According to MLBB Casters

The upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Professional League (MPL) Indonesia (ID) Season 10 may integrate a Global Ban system to spice up the competition. This system forces teams to only use a hero once per series which makes drafting strategies even more challenging. Other MPL regions are yet to officially confirm if they shall also implement such changes in the upcoming tournaments. Various casters have also shared their thoughts on this major tournament change, claiming that it might not be a good idea to implement such a system in a professional esports event. Some Indonesian (ID) pro players think this will make things more fun.

What is the Global Ban system in MLBB?

The Global Ban system is a special type of rule that prevents teams from reusing a hero more than once per match series. As a result, players are forced to use different heroes for each match instead of sticking to only one or two heroes per series.

The official Instagram handle of the MPL ID made a post hinting that the league is considering implementing this new type of ban system for the next season.

If this gets implemented, players shall be forced to master a wider hero pool instead of focusing on only one hero that can carry the whole series. Coaches and Analysts would also have a bigger challenge in terms of drafting multiple team compositions without reusing heroes in their next draft.

At the moment, the Global Ban system is only being implemented in the Mobile Legends Development League (MDL), as confirmed by popular MLBB caster Handy "Mirko" Loho. Moonton is yet to officially confirm if the MPL shall have this system in its future iterations.

MPL Casters Mirko and Arashi are against the Global Ban system in MLBB

Through one of Mirko’s podcasts titled SarCast featuring the professional caster Brydon "Arashi" Maslimta as a guest, the concept of a Global Ban system for MLBB had been discussed. For the MPL ID casters, this system shouldn’t be implemented at a professional level.

“Players who are famous for playing only one hero, they're gonna struggle a lot because back then, you can be forced to ban them out and that just makes the whole Ban Phase Dynamic different,” stated Arashi.

He added that “If there’s Global Bans like that, that’s gonna make everything just so much different and that’s gonna put a lot more pressure on analysts, not just coaches, and try to get that data down.”

Mirko echoed Arashi’s statement by saying “I don’t think they should implement the Global Ban in MPL.”

While he thinks the system is a fun concept, it doesn’t fit well at a professional level such as the official league of MLBB.

Arashi continued by saying this may limit the coaches’ ability to come up with unique team compositions and ban strategies. “You can’t get to see his (coach) tactical thinking, who he bans, what he’s trying to do, what he’s trying to limit because there’s just too much chaos,” the MPL caster said.

Mirko thinks learning about the loopholes and top-tier meta in MLBB is also a skill that teams should possess. With the Global Ban being implemented, it may hinder the team’s creative mindset and mastery of the meta. “Reading the meta is something that’s gonna be a skillset of its own. That’s how teams have been dominant so far and if they add this Global Ban… everything you have planned before, the strategies, it’s gonna be pretty randomized now.”

He further elaborated that this system may ruin the team’s reason to do scrim sessions and learn which heroes are performing the best in every patch update.

While the official MPL is yet to announce if it shall implement the Global Ban system, it shall be most interesting to see how the pro teams shall adjust to this change if it ever gets confirmed for the upcoming league season.