Blacklist International flexed their might against RSG Slate Philippines, scoring a dominant 3-1 victory to book their second back-to-back grand finals appearance in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 11 playoffs at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Saturday.
Blacklist has been in the finals of the MPL Philippines since Season 7, except for Season 9 when the V33Wise duo decided to take a break from competitive play.
Blacklist easily manhandled RSG in Game 1 with a monstrous 17-0 shutout kill score led by Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales’ triple kill in the winding moments to secure the opening win, 1-0.
It looked like an equalizer was on the way when John Darry “Irrad” Abarquez (Joy) dominated the early game, recording a 5-0-0 KDA, but Blacklist punished his overaggressiveness in the 9th minute to secure the lord objective and slowly command control of the map.
The defending champions did not let up and never gave RSG any openings en route to a one-sided affair the rest of the way, reaching match point at 2-0.
RSG responded tremendously in Game 3 by picking Nathanael “Nathzz” Estrologo’s Esmeralda, leading to a commanding laning phase. Eman “EMANN” Sangco (Beatrix) capped off the dominant display with a maniac killing streak off a 20th lord fight to force Game 4.
RSG continued to look deadly early in Game 4, with Dylan “Light” Capiton providing the initiations for a 7-0 lead, but a pick-off in the 10th minute helped Blacklist secure the lord and negate the early game deficit.
Owl (Brody) then scored a double kill during a 19th-minute lord dance to cap a 5-2 wipeout and take the series.
