Embracing the pressure.
That’s what Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna and the rest of Blacklist International are doing in the ongoing M3 World Championships at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“One of the mindsets that we prepared is accepting the pressure,” said OhMyV33NUS after Blacklist International posted a perfect 3-0 record in the group stage last Monday.
From winning the last two MPL Philippines seasons and placing second in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Invitational, respectively, the Tier One-backed squad is already well aware of the expectations even before they flew to Singapore.
“Because alam namin na hindi na talaga mawawala yung pressure sa amin. Ilang beses na rin naming na-encounter yung ganitong expectations even during Season Eight and MPLI and today,” said the veteran support.
The mindset definitely showed as Blacklist International opened its M3 campaign with a flawless win over inaugural MPL Brazil champs Red Canids with OhMyV33NUS’s Mathilda leading the way.
The team encountered a minor hiccup in their second match against Bedel, but Kiel “OHEB” Soriano’s Beatrix made sure to save the day. That was not the last time OHEB’s Beatrix showed up in the group stage, as he once again led the team to a quick win over Malvinas Gaming to cap off the day.
With the perfect performance in the group stage, Blacklist International has already secured one of the two upper bracket slots in Group A along with Bedel.
Meanwhile, both Red Canids and Malvinas Gaming will have to go through the lower bracket to have a shot at claiming the M3 title.
Despite the sure seat in the upper bracket, Blacklist International is leaving no stones unturned as they head to the M3 playoffs.
“Ever since we came here in Singapore we haven’t been out so this long break, we will give ourselves maybe one to two days to explore Singapore.”
