Blacklist International is finally turning things around following a winless campaign last week in the MPL Philippines Season 12.
The Tier One-backed squad, after winning five of its first seven games in the first round, dropped three consecutive losses to start the second leg against ECHO (2-0), RSG PH (2-1), and Omega Esports (2-0), respectively.
However, it looks like Blacklist International is back on track after sweeping its Week 5 assignments against Minana EVOS and ONIC PH.
Coach Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani revealed that one of the main reasons why they finally got back to their winning ways is the inclusion of Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo in the main five, who has been nothing but impressive for Blacklist International in his second consecutive start this season.
“Para sa akin may kulang sa ginagawa namin [last week]. Hindi lang sa players, kasi since nag-start yung MPL, ako sa sarili ko mismo masyado akong focused sa players. Gusto kong mag-improve nang mag-improve yung players pero ang tingin kong naging kulang nung Week 4 is kami yung naging behind,” said Master the Basics.
“Ako, personally, nakulangan ako sa ginagawa namin so yun yung inistep up pa namin plus siguro yung ginawa naming ‘mekus mekus’ na lineup tapos ayun nga ang naging result kasi, si Yue talaga yung naiangat namin. Marami kaming sinubukan,” he continued.
The assistant-turned-head coach did not go into details about why he decided to replace Salic “Hadji” Imam with Yue. But the move definitely paid dividends for Blacklist International, who are now in the second spot with a 7-5 win-loss standing.
“Siguro ano… medyo marami kasi kaming ano, marami kaming scenarios na ginagawa sa bootcamp. Medyo masyadong detalyado kasi kapag sinabi ko yung naging basis namin pero siguro ano, ang best explanation is marami kaming na-try at dahil ito yung pinaka naging effective, ito yung ginawa namin.”
