Editing ML Kings (section)

== History ==

=== Formation and early competition ===

ML Kings was established in Mělník by Czech players Martin Onderka, Pavel Vinkler and Michal Čech.

In an interview published by the Czech newspaper ''Deník'' on 22 March 2014, Onderka described the team's formation and early participation in Czech national tournaments.

The interview traced the team's beginnings to approximately six years earlier, although an exact founding date was not established.[1]

ML Kings entered the European Millennium Series in 2011, initially competing in Division 1.

By 2013, the team had progressed to the Semi-Professional Paintball League, finishing tenth overall according to Onderka's contemporary account.[1][2]

=== European professional competition ===

ML Kings continued competing internationally, entering the Millennium Series Champions Paintball League.

At the 2015 Paris-Chantilly tournament, the team reached the CPL final against [[Houston Heat]].

Houston Heat won the event, leaving ML Kings in second place. The final was documented by contemporary tournament coverage and the historical results archive maintained by Paintball Win Count.[5][6]

MLKings Prague was subsequently listed among the professional CPL teams competing during the 2016 season, alongside [[Edmonton Impact]], [[London Nexus]], [[Toulouse TonTons]] and [[Frankfurt Syndicate]].[7]

=== Czech national championships ===

ML Kings also achieved significant domestic success.

The team won the Czech national five-player X-Ball championship in 2016 and successfully defended the title in 2017.

Official results published by the Czech Paintball League identify ML Kings as the 2017 champion, ahead of PPArena and MLKings Sacramento.[3]

In the 2018 Czech Paintball League five-player season standings, ML Kings finished second behind PPArena.[3]

=== Expansion into the United States ===

In 2017, ML Kings entered the American National Xball League Semi-Professional division.

The team won the Semi-Professional championship at the NXL Atlantic City Open in June 2017.

Equipment manufacturer [[MacDev]], which sponsored the organisation, confirmed the victory in a statement dated 28 June 2017.

The same tournament was won by [[Russian Legion]] in the professional division.[4]

On 1 March 2018, MacDev announced that ML Kings had secured professional division positions in both NXL Europe and NXL USA.

The team also renewed its sponsorship agreement with MacDev and adopted the manufacturer's Prime tournament marker.

Team representative Charlie Givens described the achievement as the culmination of the organisation's progression from its 2011 Millennium Series Division 1 campaign.[2]

=== Continued professional competition ===

ML Kings continued competing in American professional X-Ball tournaments during the 2020s.

The team finished twelfth in the 2023 National Xball League professional season standings.

In 2024, MLKings competed in all five NXL major tournaments and finished eighteenth in the professional season rankings.[8][9]

The team's American tournament registrations identify it as a United States entry, but its origins and historical identity are Czech.