AFTER SUFFERING two devastating defeats at the hands of Onic Indonesia in MPL: Invitational as well as BTK in the group stages of the M3 World Championships, Blacklist International was able to avenge their previous losses by eliminating Indonesian champions Onic Indonesia, 2-1, in the lower bracket.
The first two games of the series followed a similar trend, where one team had a strong early game, only for the opposition to bounce back.
But the final game took a different turn as the Codebreakers systematically dissected their foes by securing key objectives.
The Hadji effect powers Blacklist past Onic ID
Hadji unveiled two different faces in this matchup. In Games 1 and 2, he went for a more teamfight aggressive approach with his Kagura and Chou.
His Kagura was seen jumping into the backlines, most notably at the 7th minute where he led the crucial turnaround leading to Blacklist's snowballing until the latter stages of the game.
In Game 2, his Chou was all around the map, stomping Calvin "CW" Winata's early game. He even made crucial picksoffs on Gilang "SANZ" in teamfights. However his efforts were eventually thwarted as a 15th minute turnaround allowed Onic's late game lineup to shine, leading to a momentous win for the Indonesian champions.
While the first two games saw Hadji with a more aggressive playstyle, Game 3 revealed his counterattacking prowess with his Pharsa as Onic struggled to engage in teamfights due to his ult.
Redemption for Wise
Blacklist's previous losses saw Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario under scrutiny, but this series saw the importance he had. His Barats in Games 1 and 3, created opportunities for Kiel "OHEB" Soriano to secure crucial kills, which allowed him to become a major threat in the series.
Besides his playmaking skills, his Barats was a thorn on Onic's side in the jungle, securing crucial objectives. This was highlighted in Game 1 as Blacklist secured the turtle amid the pressure from Onic Indonesia.
And his impact even exploded in Game 2 as his Kimmy complimented Blacklist's gameplan of limiting Onic's early game due to her tower pushing antics.
How BTK loss changed Blacklist
Prior to the match, Blacklist International looked nervous and shaken given the do-or-die situation of their matchup.
And during the post-match interview, Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna admitted that his team needed to uplift their spirits against Onic Indonesia.
“Syempre unang-una tiwala talaga sa teammates dahil sila naman din kase yung nag-boost ng morale ng bawat isa sa amin. And actually katulad nung sinabi ni BON CHAN, sobrang excited kami sa match against Onic Esports since alam namin na sila ang tumalo sa amin sa MPLI," said the team captain.
In addition, he spoke about how the BTK loss changed them.
"And also ever since natalo kami sa BTK, talagang tinimes four namin yung efforts namin and yung preparation namin.”
The Blacklist shotcaller added: “Actually sobrang dami, sobrang daming na-open na mata. Kase madalas kaming nananalo to the point na nakakalimutan natin kung bakit kami naglalaro and yung pagkatalo sa BTK sobrang naging eye-opener sa amin."
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