Blacklist Academy and Bren-Euphoria Esports took care of their respective assignments on Day 1 of the playoffs, allowing them to reach the semifinals of the MLBB Development League Philippines Season 1 playoffs on Friday.
Blacklist will face Group A leaders Game Lab, leading 3-2 in their regular season head-to-head. Meanwhile, Bren will face Group B top seed Echo Proud.
In the opener, Blacklist first mounted a massive comeback, turning back a 16-5 kill deficit through a clutch lord steal from Ian Jakob “Rindo” Seguiran (Baxia) during the 20th-minute lord dance, followed by a nifty lord fight in the 26th minute to complete the reverse win.
With momentum on their side, Blacklist imposed their will on the hapless RSG side, with Russel Aaron “Eyon” Usi (Yve) having his way en route to a perfect 5-0-7 KDA, leading Blacklist’s 14-3 conquest of RSG during the 15-minute affair.
Meanwhile, Bren leaned on the hot hands of Carl “Shizou” Valdez (Beatrix) who finished with an immaculate 8-0-2 KDA, highlighted by a 4-0 wipe in the 13th minute that took the life away from Omega in Game 1.
In Game 2, the Neos responded with a surprise Helcurt pick that worked wonders as Michael “MP the King” Endino secured the necessary objectives and utilized the Dark Night Falls’ potential to its fullest to score the equalizer and force a rubber match.
Game 3 boiled down to a 24th-minute lord dance, where Czedrick “Yoshinu” Romero (Khufra) executed a pinpoint Tyrant’s Rage set-up play on Lilflesh “Zone” Miranda (Jawhead) that touched off a 2-0 wipe. Shizou (Claude) then capped it off with a timely Blazing Duet towards the enemy base turret to bag the win.
