After a shaky performance in the regular season, Blacklist International looked like an entirely different team in the playoffs, dominating its way into the MPL Philippines Season 11 grand finals on Saturday night.
The Tier One-backed squad turned back the red-hot RSG Slate PH, 3-1, in the upper bracket finals to punch their ticket to the 2023 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup and make their second consecutive finals trip in the MPL PH.
When asked what changed for the team in the playoffs, jungler Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario credited the team’s success to rookie mid-laner Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo, whose improvements played a key role in Blacklist International’s return trip to the grand finals.
“Siguro may factor din yung si Yue kahit lagi siyang nasa KDA… nasa top five KDA siya. May factor pa rin siguro na rookie pa siya at ilang linggo pa lang siya sa MPL kaya nangangapa pa siya,” said Wise during the post-match interview.
“Ngayon nakikita ko sa kanya na nakachamba kami dahil nakuha namin siya. Ang lakas niya tapos si Hadji pa yung pinalitan niya this season. Lumabas na yung totoo niyang laro, hindi na siya kinakabahan,” he added.
Blacklist International went through minor roster changes during the regular season after suffering numerous losses. Eventually, the team managed to clinch the third seed with an 8-6 win-loss record.
From there, the team turned it up a notch in the playoffs, sweeping rival Omega Esports in the first round of the playoffs before scoring an upset over the top-ranked Bren Esports in four games in the upper bracket semifinals.
Blacklist International played three series in the playoffs but only lost a couple of games in the process.
The former world champion squad will take on either ECHO or RSG Slate PH in the grand finals on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
