ESPORTS

Blacklist sustains undefeated run, still leads after Week 3 of MPL Season 7

After a two-week break following the COVID situation in the Philippines, MPL PH finally resumed but not even that long lay-off could stop Blacklist International from piling win after win to remain as the overall leader of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) Season 7.

They first made quick work of Nexplay Esports as they scored their 3rd sweep in 4 matches then followed it up with another win over Work Auster Force, which was on a three-game winning streak, to finish with 13pts after 5 matches. Blacklist stayed on top Group B ahead of Execration (9pts), Nexplay (8pts), Omega (7pts) and Laus Playbook Esports (4pts).

The immaculate run does not seem surprising with four of the five top kill-death-assist averages in the league coming from the team. Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario led the way for Blacklist with a 7.75 KDA average behind league leader Jaymark Aaron "Lord Hadess" Tomas Lazaro of Aura PH who compiled a 10.63 KDA after 5 matches. Kiel “OHEB” Soriano came in 3rd with 7.53 followed by Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap (6.53) and Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna (4.96).

In Group A, Aura PH has displayed massive resurgence as the Season 4 and Season 5 champs topscored with 11pts, dropping only one match so far at the hands of Blacklist International. Not far behind though are Season 7 darkhorse Work, who accumulated 10pts that included shutout wins against Cignal Ultra and Season 6 semi-finalist Onic PH. Reigning world champions BREN Esports has started their recovery as well, scoring two wins in week 3 to stay on the hunt with 6pts. Onic (5pts) and Cignal (2pts) both lost all their matches in Week 3.

Danger zones

Despite a decent showing in their El Classico match vs Bren, Cignal still has yet to register any win in Season 7. They were able pushed BREN to a rubber match but their lackluster performances against Omega, Work and Nexplay is quite alarming and may lead to demotion if this continues. Similarly, perrenial contender Onic seems to have become a shell of their old might after the massive roster revamp. They failed to win any match, let alone a single game, in Week 3 as they suffered shutout losses at the hands of Aura PH and Work. It the losses continue to pile up, one of these teams in Group A will need to say goodbye to the MLBB pro league.

In the same shoes are NXP and LPE who are also in the running for the last placed teams in their groups. NXP has now dropped 5 matches, the most by any team in the league so far, with a mere 38.9% winrate. LPE is in a worse spot with only 33.3% winrate despite scoring a win over Omega in Week 3. They will be hard-pressed in Week 4 as their rematch will most likely dictate who stays in the league. —JMB, GMA News