Despite being a grand finalist in five of the last six seasons, Blacklist International had an up-and-down MPL Philippines Season 13 campaign.
After securing back-to-back wins, Blacklist suffered a sweep on Saturday against cellar-dwelling Smart Omega, where a series win could have secured their place in the playoffs.
However, despite the current struggles and losses that the team has endured so far, Salik “Hadji” Imam’s growth provides head coach Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza with a glimmer of hope as they aim for another deep run this season.
Known for their healing meta, Blacklist opted for the Franco and Arlott roaming picks against Omega, which yielded impressive results for Hadji.
“Ito na yung identity niya. Dati kasi yung mga lose streak namin, tinry namin iapply yung mga dating formula namin nung nakakaabot kami ng finals. Pero since hindi talaga siya gumagana, binigyan namin siya ng freedom gawin yung mga gusto niyang play as long as reasonable,” explained the coach in an exclusive interview with Tiebreaker Times.
“Sabi ko ibreak na namin yung mga ginagawa naming gameplay kasi wala talaga. Nakailang try na kaming plait ng player, kahit si Kimpoy ang maglaro ganun pa din eh.”
Despite being on the losing end of a tight series, Hadji delivered a scintillating performance with the Franco pick that helped them establish a sizable 9k net worth lead.
And BON CHAN agrees.
“Sa Game 1, kahit talo, bibigyan ko pa rin siya ng 10/10 na performance. Yung Franco na yun, although ginagamit namin sa practice, hindi ganun kadalas. And napull off niya nang sobrang ganda,” expounded the coach.
The multi-titled coach has full trust that Hadji can successfully flourish into the roamer that the team needs to regain their glorious runs.
“Season 2 pa lang teammate ko na siya. Alam ko kung pano siya maglaro.
“Sabi ko sa kanya, ‘Gawin mo yung mga gusto mong play. Meron kayong lisensya.’ Hindi lang siya kundi pati na rin yung mga ibang players and yun, nagtugma-tugma yung mga gusto nilang mangyari,” BON CHAN said on how they arrived at their revised gameplay.
Hadji’s growth will be put to the test as he tries to help Blacklist avoid early elimination heading into their last three regular-season matches.
