Blacklist International successfully avenged their loss to TNC Pro Team in the first half of the season with a 2-1 reverse sweep in Week 5 of the MPL Philippines Season 13 on Sunday at the Shooting Gallery Studios.
The Tier One-backed squad just needs a win and another loss by Smart Omega and TNC to secure their place in the playoffs as they currently sit sixth with 13 points. TNC is tied for seventh with four points.
After splitting the first two matches, Blacklist had to rely on familiarity with TNC’s composition to make a decisive play in the rubber match to secure their second straight win.
“Parang predicted na rin namin kasi gumagamit din kami ng Lou Yi. Predicted namin kung saan posible mag-teleport yung Lou Yi,” said Salik “Hadji” Imam on the winning play in Game 3 that gave them the edge to win the final team fight.
In Game 1, TNC squandered a 7k net worth lead but made a spectacular diversion play early in the 19th minute that helped Rasec “Nomed” Sugarno (Bruno) score his first career savage in the win.
Nomed finished with an impressive 8-1-4 KDA.
However, Blacklist quickly responded in Game 2 as Hadji (Ruby) and Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo’s (Vexana) crowd control proved too much to handle, leading to an 18-minute victory to force a decider.
Game 3 boiled down to a 19-minute lord dance where TNC’s Diversion play was spotted by Hadji’s (Selena) Abyssal Trap that signaled the Codebreakers to force the lord fight and complete a 5-1 wipe to take the series.
Blacklist will hope to secure their place in the postseason as they battle Omega on Saturday, April 27th.
