Edward “Edward” Dapadap came alive in Game Five as Blacklist International weathered the KarlTzy storm to send defending champion Bren Esports down the lower bracket via a heart-stopping 3-2 victory in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League-Philippines Season Seven playoffs, Thursday night.
The Tier One-backed squad will go up against Aura PH, who was coming off a huge victory over Smart Omega Esports, in the upper bracket finals.
After winning the first two games of the series, Edward, who rarely lost his lane this season, struggled in the next two games as Bren Esports tied the series at 2-all.
Come Game Five, however, Edward (Paquito), finally regained composure to lead Blacklist International’s 16-4 Game Five win in 17 minutes and 24 seconds with eight assists and two kills against just one death.
Blacklist International, after taking the early game of Game Five, froze all the lanes to keep Bren Esports from farming. The team then made a play for the Luminous Lord entering the 17-minute mark with Bren Esports forcing a contest to try and extend the game.
However, a crucial kill on David “FlapTzy” Canon’s Barats and Allan “Lusty” Castromayor’s Khufra forced a five-man wipe on Bren which signaled the end for the world champions.
Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna’s Popol and Kupa ended with seven kills and five assists against a death while Mark “ESON” Gerardo’s Rafaela finished with a game-high 13 assists.
On the other hand, Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, who had a monster Lancelot outing that sparked Bren Esports’ Game Three comeback, was held to just a kill, four deaths, and two deaths with the same hero.
“Ganun din naman yung ginagawa nila, binibigay lang din nila yung comfort heroes namin saka kung may i-baban ‘man kami yung mga hero siguro na alam naming bi-bwisit samin hindi yung hero na sinasamba ng karamihan,” said Blacklist coach Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza on the team’s decision to not ban Lancelot in Game Three.
Blacklist International came in the opener with guns blazing, dominating Bren Esports through a standard composition led by OhMyV33NUS’ Yve and Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario’s Granger.
But it was Edward’s Benedetta who put up the finishing touches, outplaying the Phoveus of FlapTzy en route to the SMART MVP award. He finished with six kills and four assists against a death in the 18-3 Game One demolition.
Bren Esports, despite trailing early in Game Two, fought back late to try and even out the series. However, a clutch Luminous Lord steal from Kiel “OHEB” Soriano’s Lunox gave Blacklist International the push that they needed to secure the 2-0 lead.
OhMyV33NUS, who clamped down KarlTzy’s Hayabusa all throughout the match, nabbed the SMART MVP award in Game Two with five kills and 13 assists against three deaths.
With Bren Esports a loss away from being relegated to the lower bracket, KarlTzy put up one of the best Lancelot performances in history to extend the series. The 17-year-old wunderkind dominated Game Three, finishing with an 8-0-3 stat line in the 19-2 Game Three win in just 15 minutes and two seconds.
A dominant Game Four performance from Bren Esports tied the series at 2-all. Lusty’s Khufra set the table for the 12-2 victory, which lasted for only 11 minutes and 23 seconds. He won the SMART MVP award with a game-high eight assists laced with a kill and a death.
Blacklist International will go up against Aura PH in the upper bracket finale on Saturday while Bren Esports will fight for tournament life against Work Auster Force on Friday.
