Team captain Johnmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna remained proud of what Blacklist International achieved in the MPL Philippines Season 11 despite falling short of winning their second consecutive crown after losing to ECHO in the grand finals.
The Tier One-backed squad was actually the first team to make it to the grand finals after beating RSG Slate PH in the upper bracket finals but the erstwhile champions failed to sustain their momentum as they lost to ECHO via sweep in the finale.
“They were the better team today. Proud and happy pa rin ako sa narating natin, wala namang umasang aabot tayo sa grand finals but still, representatives pa rin tayo sa MSC and we have a chance para makabawi,” said OhMyV33NUS in a Facebook post after the match.
Blacklist International’s back-to-back dreams hit a snag prior to the season after key starters Salic “Hadji” Imam and Kiel “OHEB” Soriano, as well as head coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza, decided to skip Season 11 to rest.
The former world champion squad brought in rookies Redick “Super Red” Bordeos and Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo to try and fill in the gap left by the former MPL PH regular season MVP and the ex-M3 World Championships Finals MVP.
Blacklist International started the series strong, winning three of their first four matches.
Unfortunately, the team struggled right after as they dropped three consecutive games which forced them to elevate SEA Games gold medalist Howard “Owl” Gonzales from Blacklist Academy to the MPL.
The team ended the regular season at the third spot with an 8-6 record and took down Omega Esports, Bren Esports, and RSG Slate PH en route to the finals.
“Maraming salamat sa lahat ng sumuporta simula umpisa hanggang dulo. Thank God tapos na S11.”
