BLACKLIST INTERNATIONAL'S journey to an upper bracket playoff spot turned out to be an arduous one.
Living up to its reputation, Group A did prove its status as the 'group of death.' With Blacklist losing to Falcon Esports, they had to punch through a three-way tie between the Codebreakers, Falcon, and Incendio Supremacy.
According to the rulebook, these three teams would face each other in a round robin format for that upper bracket berth. After losing again to Falcon, Blacklist finally locked in their slot with a win against Turkey's INC.
Codebreakers breeze past Burn X Flash
With Coach John Michael “Zico” Dizon out due to COVID restrictions, Blacklist capitalized on their battered counterparts, who were already fated to play at the lower bracket.
The matchup was a walk in the park for the Codebreakers as the Flamers couldn’t deal with their last pick Angela from Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna.
With Angela's heavy sustains, V33nus teamed up with Edward “Edward” Jay Dapadap’s Yu Zhong to charge the opposition.
Even with tower protection, Burn X Flash faltered against the dynamic duo, as the sustain from V33nus and the damage outburst from Edward was too much.
Blacklist also had other methods of engagement with their Claude and jungle Kaja picks. With all the pieces clicking, Blacklist comfortably delivered a 15-1 drubbing over Burn X Flash.
Falcon soars past the Codebreakers
Their next opponent was a familiar one, having already faced each other in scrimmages. But now they had to take their battle to the big stage.
With Natalia and Martis picks from Min "Naomi" Ko and Kenneth "Kenn" Hein, Falcon was able to storm past their rivals at the early stages of the game. The crowd control prowess of the latter was able to slow down the Codebreakers, while the former silenced key members.
While Blacklist's hero pool may have served up a late-game edge, Kyaw "Zippx" Bo's Lunox was the perfect response, as her magic damage could melt down Blacklist's tanky lineup.
These factors simply overwhelmed Blacklist, leading to the three-way tie and round robin clash of these three group A teams.
The rematch
During the tiebreakers, Falcon was able to slay Turkey's Incendio Supremacy, leading to a rematch against Blacklist.
Just like in their previous encounter, Falcon had the early momentum, all thanks to Naomi's Franco. His hook shots were on point, and Blacklist had no answer to the follow-up damage from Kenn's Granger.
To make matters worse for the Codebreakers, Falcon had an alternative option as Pyae "JustiN" Khant's Valentina copied key skills from the Codebreakers.
Falcon slowly unraveled Blacklist, securing their win and their upper bracket playoff slot.
Do-or-die
With Blacklist desperate to also get their upper bracket ticket, they faced their Turkish foes from the first day of M4. Incendio Supremacy nearly shook the Codebreakers with their Franco pick, and this hero proved to be a thorn to the Codebreakers in the group stages.
It was evenly matched as both teams went back-and-forth all throughout.
But everything changed on the final play when Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario made a sacrifice play. With INC blowing all their resources on him, Edward bounced back with a pesky Gloo. Even with three members down, Blacklist went all out for the final push that paved the way for their playoff berth.
In the playoffs, Blacklist International awaits for the top seed of Group D.
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