AFTER eliminating one of the title contenders and favorites in Onic Indonesia, Blacklist International once again slayed their Indonesian rivals, booting them out of the tournament with a dominant 3-0 sweep.
The series saw a grindfest in Game 1, followed by two dominant wins from the Codebreakers.
Blacklist wins a late game encounter
For Blacklist to gain the momentum, they need to win the first game. Though things looked sharp for them through the middle stages of the game, things slowly took an upside down turn.
RRQ’s late game lineup, featuring the burst damage from their Lylia and Natan, forced Blacklist to stall their inhibitor pushes in the 21st minute. Then, to make things worse, Rivaldi “R7” Fatah forced Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario to retreat.
Schevenko “Skylar” David Tendean also surprised the Codebreakers with his lane cutting and split pushing antics.
He could’ve been the hero for RRQ, but Blacklist’s clutch genes came through as Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna led the charge to eliminate Albert “Alberttt” Neilsen Iskandar’s Natan. Eventually they were able to hunt down Skylar, leading to a nail-biting Game 1 win for the Philippine representatives.
A systematic dissection
A key contributor to their victory was Blacklist’s ability to dissect the win conditions of their Indonesian counterparts.
In Game 1, RRQ selected Lolita, who became a bane on Blacklist’s ranks during their match against BTK.
But unlike their previous matchup, Blacklist was able to counter the Lolita factor as they forced Calvin “Vynnn” into awkward engagements.
And once his ult was wasted, the Codebreakers charged forward.
While RRQ were struggling to execute their Lolita strategy, they looked for an alternative with their Ruby and Paquito combo, which initially shocked the Filipino champions in Game 2.
However, the Codebreakers found a response, led by Edward “Edward” Jay Dapadap’s Phoveus, who constantly harassed the MPL-ID runner ups, forcing them to overcommit their abilities.
Kiel “OHEB” Soriano and Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario then mounted a counterattack.... and repeat again in Game 3, where OHEB’s Clint was a menace after Edward’s nuisance.
Playing in front of the crowd
Today marks the first time that the audience attended the event and both RRQ and Blacklist Agents swarmed the venue and cheered for their teams.
For Wise, this was a refreshing experience.
“It’s not the same. I was used to playing without an audience. But right now, I'm happy that esports is gaining back the audience."
He even felt the jitters of playing in front of an audience.
“Noong Game 1 medyo nanginginig pa yung kamay ko noon pero habang in-game, parang naisip ko, kailangan maging focus pa din ako, hindi ako dapat manginig kase ako yung pinakakailangan dito.”
He ended the post-match interview by expressing who he wants to face between Todak and EVOS SG.
“Personally, kung gusto ko mag-champion dapat talunin mo lahat kase yun yung trait ng champion eh dapat talunin mo lahat.”
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