Blacklist International secured their place in the playoffs after completing a 2-1 reverse sweep of ECHO in the final week of MPL Philippines Season 13 on Saturday at the Shooting Gallery Studios.
The Codebreakers (6-7) moved up to solo fifth after securing their sixth win, improving to 19 points, one ahead of MINANA Evos.
Blacklist head coach Kristoffer “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza was visibly happy facing the media after witnessing his team show their heart against one of the top teams in the league.
“Sobrang close din naman nung Game 1 and natantya nila na kaya naman talaga namin. Kaya talaga nila na makipagsabayan. Siguro nung second mas nagkaroon kami ng better draft, so na-execute nila nang may dobleng aggressiveness,” expressed BON CHAN.
“Lahat sila activated eh. So di mo masabi na may isang player lang na nagbuhat. Makikita mo sa kanila lahat may ginagawa. Kanya-kanya nilang role nagagampanan nila.”
While ECHO initially controlled the early stages of Game 1, Blacklist managed to narrow a 6k net worth deficit to 2k after a 5-4 exchange during the 14th-minute lord dance.
However, Frederic “Bennyqt” Gonzales (Roger) scored his first Savage killing streak early in the 17th minute, giving ECHO the opening victory, 1-0.
Kiel “Oheb” Soriano (Natan) then took over in Game 2, gunning down a Maniac midway through the 10th minute, buoying Blacklist’s 4-2 trade-off to force the decider.
In Game 3, it was Edward “Edward” Dapadap (Benedetta) and Salik “Hadji” Imam (Arlott) who delivered decisive initiations, helping Blacklist complete the reverse sweep.
Blacklist will close out the regular season against RSG Philippines on Sunday, May 5th.
