Cover-Credits:
Moonton
The seasoned jungler of The Valley, Michael "MobaZane" Cosgun, expressed his dissatisfaction with the prize pool of the recently announced Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) North America Development League (NDL). The popular pro player and streamer claimed that the tournament’s prize pool is lackluster and that he has no plans of joining the tournament. The unsatisfactory prize pool also lowered his enthusiasm toward the NDL event and thinks that Mobile Legends is still not taking the North American region seriously.
A teaser for the NA league was teased back on 16th January. Registrations for the NDL tournament opened on 20th January for interested teams.
MobaZane claims nobody cares about MLBB in NA
MobaZane is one of the most popular personalities in the MLBB esports scene. The pro player recently led The Valley to an impressive 6th place finish in the M4 World Championship. The team was able to make it far in the tournament, despite lackluster support from sponsors or esports organizations.
The team’s impressive performance is a symptom of the growing popularity of MLBB in NA. As a result, it was no surprise to see the NDL tournament being announced, enabling an avenue for aspiring MLBB players and teams to exhibit their talents and refine their skills against other competitive players.
While fans were happy to see NA finally receiving more support for its MLBB esports scene, arguably the region’s most popular personality MobaZane expressed his disappointment with the tournament.
According to him, the prize pool is simply not enough to convince him to compete in the development league. “TV to NDL? The NDL Prize was actually just like $500, it’s like a meme,” said MobaZane. “I don’t want to join it, such a waste of time, man.”
He further elaborated that due to the state of MLBB in NA, his passion for competing in the tournament has diminished. He stated, “The fact that NA is very non-serious about ML might lower my passion a bit.”
MobaZane explained that there aren’t enough incentives to focus on playing MLBB in NA which made it hard for players to try and invest time and effort in the game.“Nobody really cares about ML in NA because you can’t make a career out of it here unless you’re a lucky few,” he said.
MobaZane previously complained that NA lacked support from Moonton. However, with the growth of MLBB in NA becoming more evident, the region may be seeing more MLBB tournaments in the future aside from NDL.
