Two of the best teams in the world finally collided on the MPL Philippines stage on Sunday night.
In what could be a glimpse of the Season 10 grand finals, reigning world champion Blacklist International turned back defending MSC winner RSG PH, 2-1, to top the first round of the regular season at the ICITE Auditorium on Sunday night.
After a back-and-forth affair in Game One that saw them drop almost a 6K gold advantage, RSG PH eventually got the upper hand after Light, whose Immortality popped after getting ambushed by Blacklist International, delivered a four-man Noumenon Blast which resulted in three kills.
RSG PH then took out Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna (Faramis) inside Blacklist International’s base to complete the victory.
Light, who stopped Blacklist International’s siege entering the 19th minute with a Noumenon Blast play from behind, had a game-high 19 assists laced with three kills and five deaths in the 26-15 win in 20 minutes and six seconds while Jhonard “Demonkite” Caranto (Balmond) had a perfect 5-0-10 outing.
Blacklist International came out in Game Two with guns blazing, securing three Turtles, three turrets, and a Lord in the first 10 minutes of the match to put up a 6-2 kills lead and an almost 5K gold advantage over RSG PH.
From there, the MPL PH Season Eight champion ran away with a dominant 10-2 win after securing a four-man wipe during the final siege.
Kiel “OHEB” Soriano (Claude) bounced back with a 3-0-4 KDA line in less than 11 minutes of action while Salic “Hadji” Imam (Faramis) chipped in a game-high eight assists to go along with two kills.
Blacklist International then bucked an almost 30-minute delay to close out RSG PH in Game Three.
Edward “Edward” Dapadap (Esmeralda) caught Eman “EMANN” Sangco (Beatrix) during the 31st minute in the middle lane which kick-started the game-winning clash for Blacklist International. The team then completed a five-man wipe for the win.
“Siguro kailangan din nating mag-bigay ng credit sa RSG dahil kung hindi naman talaga silang nag-practice nang mabuti, hindi magiging dikit yun or maaring ma-dominate namin pero the fact na dikit yung laban ibig sabihin talagang matindi rin yung pinagdaanan nilang practice,” said Blacklist International head coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza.
“Masaya silang kalaban, sila yung kalaban na gugustuhin mong kalaban nang paulit ulit kasi gusto mong manalo dahil alam mong malakas sila hindi dahil gusto mong manalo dahil ayaw mong ma-trashtalk nila,” he added.
The Tier One-backed squad seized the top spot with a league-best 14 points off a 5-2 win-loss slate while RSG PH (4-3) tied ECHO (5-2) at the fourth spot with 12 points each.
Blacklist International will open the second round against Nexplay EVOS on Friday at 8:00 PM while RSG PH looks to bounce back against Nexplay EVOS earlier that day at 6:00 PM.
