AFTER sending Onic PH to the lower bracket, RSG PH looked like a team who could potentially shake up the scene with their signature deathball antics.
And they might have had a chance to represent the Philippines in the upcoming SEA Games — until the defending M3 World Champions gave them a painful lesson that they still have a long way to go.
The matchup was never close as Blacklist dominated the Raiders in a 3-0 sweep. From the beginning, RSG could only watch as Blacklist handed them a 10-0 Game 1 sweep, and though the team managed to gain an early momentum in Game 2, they were left to choke on Codebreaker dust at the latter stages of the match.
Despite the defeat, RSG could still bounce back in the lower bracket, while Blacklist proceeds to the Sibol finals.
Hadji proving his MVP prowess for Blacklist
Salic “Hadji” Imam had a spectacular series as RSG had no way to contest his impact. His Pharsa and Yve garnered so much space to burst their ult over RSG’s defense, and the Raiders were left with no choice but to absorb majority of his damage.
He even went as far as combining his ult with his flicker battle spell in Game 1.
And to further intimidate his foes, his teammates would oftentimes provide the cover fire. Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna’s Mathilda offered additional poke damage while also serving as an escape option. Kyle Dominic “Dominic” Soto also backed the team up from the wings, alongside Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario.
But it was in Game 3 where Hadji truly shined as his Chou surprised RSG and bursted down his foes. His setups led to Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales’ long-distance barrage with his Brody. He even garnered an impressive 0/0/8 statline, while Owl secured a 9/0/0 kill streak.
Shutting down the demon
Impressive performances from Jonard Cedrix “Demonkite” Caranto have always impressed RSG fans, but he was completely thwarted in this series.
In Game 1, he suffered one of the worst Paquito performances of his life as he couldn’t charge towards Blacklist’s aggressive early game poke damage.
In Game 2, he tried to go for the backstab play with his Balmond but Owl’s Claude was at the right areas to snipe him down plus the Codebreakers were able to outmaneuver him in his attempts.
Mage Killer Emblem on Wise?
An interesting side note: In Game 2, Wise’s Karina was given a Mage Killer emblem, and it was at first unclear why Coach Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza and Aniel “Master The Basics” Jiandani implemented it.
It could be argued that this was a potential tool to slow down Demonkite’s jungle control as his Balmond ult and retribution could potentially snatch the turtle away from the Codebreakers, hindering their ‘UBE’ timings.
Though Demonkite was able to secure the turtle away from Blacklist, this new strategy might be prominent in the Codebreakers gameplan in the succeeding events.
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