Defending champion Blacklist International took out rival Omega Esports via a 3-1 win to advance to the grand finals of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Eight, Sunday afternoon.
The Tier One-backed squad, which entered its second-straight grand finals, will be going up against a tough ONIC PH side later in the day.
After taking Game Three, Omega Esports was poised to bag Game Four after strong early gaming coming from Patrick “E2MAX” Caidic (Selena) and Joshua “Ch4knu” Mangilog (Grock).
Blacklist International, however, secured crucial pickoffs. That allowed them to take the Luminous Lord past the 18-minute mark. That seemed to change the game, as the reigning champion ran away with the come-from-behind win.
Salic “Hadji” Imam once again bagged the MVP with 10 assists and five deaths in the 20:35-minute game.
“Actually hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala kung anong nangyari. ‘Di pa rin ako makapaniwala na grand finalist kami,” said Blacklist International team captain Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna.
Blacklist International shut down Duane “Kelra” Pillas’ Aldous en route to a dominant 16-5 Game One win. Paving the way for the win is Hadji (Chou) with three kills, two deaths, and six assists in 13 minutes and 31 seconds.
The same dominant Blacklist squad showed up in Game Two with a 15-3 lopsided win which lasted for just 11 minutes and 41 seconds. OhMyV33NUS bagged the SMART 5G MVP with 11 kills, a kill, and a death playing Mathilda.
With their backs against the wall, Omega Esports ran over Blacklist International Game Three through a sustain lineup. That extended the series to a Game Four. Taking the SMART 5G MVP was E2MAX (Phoveus) with three kills, three deaths, and seven assists.
Omega Esports ended its campaign in third place.
Blacklist International looks to defend its crown against ONIC PH in the best-of-seven grand finals later in the day at 6:00 PM.
