Blacklist International successfully avenged their group stage loss at the hands of Fire Flux Esports after taking a commanding 3-1 sweep in the lower bracket of the M5 World Championship Knockout Stage at the EVM Convention Center in Quezon City.
The M3 world champions will face the loser in the upper bracket match between AP.Bren and Geek Fam ID for a place in the lower bracket finals.
With a more disciplined squad motivated for a revenge win, Blacklist delivered a performance that led to a convincing victory.
“Nireview po namin yung mga mistakes namin against sa Fire Flux saka sa Onic tapos naapply po namin ngayon. Para sakin yung pinakamali namin dun is yung disiplina namin sa sarili. Mas pinaunlad namin yung disiplina namin ngayon kaya siguro mas maganda yung pinakita namin,” said Blacklist roamer Renejay “Renejay” Barcase.
After Fire Flux equalized in Game 2, Kiel “Oheb” Soriano (Claude) delivered a perfect Game 3 as Blacklist took control from the get-go to reach match point. The Filipino sniper capped his brilliance with a spotless 7-0-8 KDA.
With Fire Flux once again relying on their signature Leomord pick in Game 4, Blacklist drafted around Akai, Khaleed, and Rafaela which spelled the difference in the series as the M3 World champions punched their ticket to the lower bracket semi-finals.
They concluded the series after scoring a 4-1 trade-off during the 17th-minute lord fight, anchored by Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo (Valentina) who took three of the kills in that sequence.
Fire Flux, whose roster played under Incendio Supremacy during the M4 World Championship, matched the 7th-8th finish accomplished by the Turkish squad during the previous M-series.
