AMID the demoralizing performance where Blacklist International got shaken up by Jankurt Russel “KurtTzy” Matira’s Johnson and their lowly 0-4 record, the team shared some glimpses of optimism during their post-match press conference.
The once-dominant Blacklist has faced intense scrutiny from the community, but at the same time, fans remain hopeful that they could redeem themselves after two weeks of suffering.
Team captain and analyst Dexter Louise “DEX STAR” Alaba expressed his gratitude to the support bestowed to them amid a losing effort.
“Thank you sa support kahit 0-4 kami!” he said.
Meanwhile, his teammate Kiel “OHEB” Soriano lightened the atmosphere in the press conference by joking about setting new records.
“Positive lang kahit ma-0-10 kami. Ibre-break namin yung record namin na 13-1, ngayon 1-13!” said the Blacklist gold laner.
But jokes aside, the team knew that they need to pull something in the succeeding weeks and DEX STAR mentioned that there are improvements that needs to be done.
"Yung macro play namin, kase magagaling sila individually pero pag naglalaro kami sa clash as a team, yun yung kailangan namin I-improve," reflected DEX STAR.
ECHO’s Johnson and Kadita combo terrorized Blacklist International
Game 2 of the match between ECHO PH and Blacklist International saw the latter being overwhelmed by ECHO’s surprise Johnson and Kadita combo. While many were surprised with Johnson’s arrival, who last made an impact on the meta during the early days of the MPL, his was something that Blacklist has already dealt with.
“Unexpected pero nung nakita namin yung Johnson and Kadita pick, hindi kami na-surprise kase ginagawa sa amin noon eh, may mga nakakalaban kaming ganun. Tapos nakita rin namin sa MPL Indonesia which is combo ng BTR,” said OHEB.
Though they’ve experienced this strategy before, the team didn’t expect ECHO PH to pull this off.
“Unexpected na gagamitin nila pero alam namin yung gagawin nila.” added OHEB.
But despite all the times they encountered this strategy, the unpredictability caused by Johnson’s movements was something that teams should be wary of, said DEX STAR.
“Kase kung magdri-drive si Johnson, mahirap eh. Hindi mo alam kung saan manggagaling eh. Alam mo lang kung saan papunta.”
In the end The Codebreakers were left scrambling inside their base while ECHO PH secured the entire map. They’re hoping to learn from this mishap and bounce back in the succeeding weeks.
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