By: Jan Marcus Montevirgen
After Blacklist International pulled off a massive upset against Smart Omega on Wednesday in the MPL Philippines Season 14 playoffs, Kiel “OHEB” Soriano and Salic “Hadji” Imam expressed their confidence in their ability to succeed in the postseason.
Smart Omega commended Blacklist for their gameplay, noting that they had revived the UBE strategy against them. However, Imam and Soriano refuted this claim, stating that they were simply well-prepared this time around.
“Masasabi ko, wala naman na ‘yon sa kung ano yung pinick namin kanina eh. Para sa akin, iba pa rin talaga yung Blacklist kapag playoffs eh. Parang iba pa rin talaga yung galaw namin, parang kami talaga yung lason eh, parang ganon,” OHEB said during the post-match interview.
“Agree din ako kay Kiel. Kase yung mindset ko talaga ngayong playoffs ay sobrang nagiba. Parang noong nagpa-practice kami, parang palagi akong excited. Parang ang saya mag-practice. Feeling ko naka-playoffs mode talaga kami,” Hadji added.
Delivering a stellar performance in their first playoff match against Smart Omega, Hadji remained humble, emphasizing that his sole focus was on winning for the team and that he had nothing to prove to anyone.
The M3 World Championship Finals MVP also highlighted the importance of their first playoff game, noting that it would provide the much-needed momentum for their upcoming matches.
“Sobrang importante. Para sa akin, pinaka-importante yung first match [ng playoffs] na ‘to eh. Kase doon kami makakakuha ng momentum. Tsaka doon talaga namin makikita kung gaano kami kalakas, kase kapag playoffs lahat ng team nag all-in,” OHEB stated.
“Feel ko kahit sino naman yung makalaban namin, parang lalaruin namin siya kung paano namin nilaro yung Omega. Nakuha naman na ren namin yung momentum tsaka confidence namin. Kaya tingin ko mas dadali na yung mga next matches, kase nakuha na ren namin yung momentum namin.”
