LOOKING BACK

Blacklist International's journey to MPL PH S7 crown

Fresh off their dramatic championship comeback in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines, Blacklist International is now looking to duplicate the international success enjoyed by Bren Esports in the M2 World Championship when they try to capture the coveted 2021 MLBB Southeast Asian Cup (MSC) crown.

Looking at their MPL PH Season 7 performance, it's not farfetched to dream that the Filipino squad will raise the regional title this year.

The rise of the Tier One-backed squad started with the offseason acquisitions of the iconic duo of Jhonmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie "Wise" Rosario, popularly known as "V33Wise", from Onic PH. The duo was a regular fixture in the MPL PH grand finals, finishing as runners-up in Seasons 4 and 5 while settling for 4th in Season 6. They instantly became the dark horse of MPL PH Season 7 as they needed the boost to improve on their 5th-6th finishes over the past two seasons.

The additions looked effective right from the start as the team gained momentum early by taking the Juicy Legends Tournament Pro Division crown where they completed a reverse sweep of Execration in the grand finals. They also defeated Aura PH on the way to the title.

With the entry of the V33Wise duo, Coach Bonn “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza and the squad created a new meta built around the hero pool of OhMyV33nus and Wise. This was later on popularized into the "UBE (Ultimate Bonding Experience) Strategy" or the "Nice one, Baby Strategy" that not only took the MPL PH by storm but also made waves across Southeast Asia.

The said strategy utilizes a "healing meta", one of the strengths OhMyV33nus, wherein a utility support and a core jungler are deployed. The support's job is to provide healing and protection to the jungler while the latter farms for items. They stick together until the core jungler is finally well-farmed.

This strategy normally employs Angela, Estes or Rafaela to help the jungler, most of the time a marksman, with faster farm rotation and provide protection from invasion and pickoffs.

This "new meta" was initially thrashed by Aura PH when they completed a 17-5 romp of Blacklist during their debut against Wise's Karrie and OhMyV33nus’ Rafaela. But growing pains are always part of growth as the Bon Chan-mentored squad stuck to their repertoire and slowly displayed dominant form.

Blacklist then put together a three-week undefeated run, winning all 5 season matches, as they worked like a well-oiled machine all throughout. Their immaculate run was not surprising then as four of the five top kill-death-assist average in the league during that time was from the team. Wise 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 OhMyV33nus (4.96).

It was all good until they stumbled upon the reigning M2 World Champion Bren who fought back from the hole in Game 2 and turned the series around with a vintage Game 3 performance.

But the loss just became fuel for Blacklist as this helped them make the adjustments to make a run for the crown.

"Yung win streak na sinasabi nila hindi namin ginugusto yun. Hangga't maaari magkaroon kami ng isang talo kung saan mag-iimprove pa talaga kami which is nangyari nung kalaban namin yung Bren. After nun, sobrang laki ulit ng inimprove namin," said Coach Bon Chan during the presscon after their championship.

True to his word, his wards were able to make the needed adjustments and never dropped a single series again from then on. Their success and performance not only made it into the Philippine headlines but also led to numerous Indonesian pro teams to mirror their gameplay.

Gustian “REKT” Hidayat, a member of the 2019 SEA Games silver medalist Indonesian squad, went as far as to say that every team in MPL ID actually learned from the two-support meta that Blacklist has been employing all season long.

And when playoffs came, they were all locked in. Again facing the only team that stained their otherwise unblemished regular season record, Blacklist was not fazed but rather, more motivated than ever to make up for the loss with a testament win.

"Nag-win streak kami, pinabagsak kami ng Bren. Kinabukasan gusto na agad namin silang bawian. Swerte kami playoffs, doon kami nagtapat. Sobrang saya namin nabawian namin talaga sila. Ginusto din namin talagang makatapat sila para makabawi kami," said Coach Bon Chan.

The rest was history as they then completed the miraculous comeback against Execration to take their first-ever franchise crown.

Confidence is currently at an all-time high for the team and this will bode well for their upcoming MSC matches where they will battle against the top teams in Southeast Asia.

—JMB, GMA News