Blacklist survives Bren in epic five-game thriller to move one step away from M4 World Championship

Blacklist International was made to sweat in an arduous 3-2 comeback win against Bren Esports on Friday to book their spot in the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 10 upper bracket finals.

The M3 World Champions had to overcome a 1-2 deficit before coming out on top of a highlight-reel-rich Game 5 to secure a top 3 finish.

During the opener, Blacklist started to establish a lead after picking off Marco “SUPER MARCO” Requitano (Karrie) and Michael Angelo “KyleTzy” Sayson (Lancelot) in the 11th minute leading to a lord take.

The two-time MPL champions continued with the pressure as Edward “Edward” Dapadap (Benedetta) outplayed KyleTzy in a 16th minute off-cam 1-on-1 showdown to secure the luminous lord and take down all enemy inhibitor turrets.

Bren though found an opening in the 22nd minute when Vincent “Pandora” Unigo (Masha) traded his life for Kiel “OHEB” Soriano (Claude) that KyleTzy followed up with a double kill to secure the lord and march onto Blacklist's base turret.

KyleTzy, though, over-extended and was picked off that Blacklist did not waste as the reigning world champions clutched their way through a 28th minute scramble to score a 3-1 trade and take the opener, 1-0.

Bren played methodical in the early goings of Game 2, taking a 3k gold lead by the 9th minute to secure the lord despite a slim 4-3 kill lead beating Blacklist in their macro specialization led by Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel's (Valentina) 1-0-3 KDA.

Blacklist looked poised for a reverse after scoring a 4-1 wipe in the 13th minute but SUPER MARCO (Irithel) scored a clutch double kill during a 16th minute lord fight helping the Bren score the equalizer, 1-1.

After a tentative early game in Game 3, SUPER MARCO (Irithel) once again carried Bren in a 6th minute skirmish, scoring a double kill during a 4-0 wipe plus the turtle buff to snag a 2k gold lead.

Blacklist however took two unanswered kills early in the 9th minute and converted into a lord to reverse the economy deficit.

Everything boiled down to a complicated 30th minute scramble where Edward (Benedetta) executed a sneaky split push in the top lane but was quickly punished by KyleTzy (Fanny) and Phew (Gusion) then Pandora (Fredrin) stole the lord with Bren capping the team fight with a 5-0 wipe out in the ensuing sequence to pull ahead, 2-1.

The Tier One-backed squad though was not to be outdone as they unveiled their signature Estes pick coupled with a Faramis pick in Game 4 to score a quick 3-0 wipe in the 4th minute then forced their way through a 5-1 exchange in the 7th minute to establish a 5k gold lead.

They easily took the 9th minute lord and forced a rubber match by the10th minute courtesy of a commanding 15-5 kill tally led by Jonmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna's 2-2-12 KDA.

Game 5 went down the wire with Blacklist needing multiple lord takes before finally cracking Bren's armor in the 25th minute with Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario (Akai) pinning down SUPER MARCO (Irithel) leaving Bren with not enough wave clear in the ensuing base turret push.

—JMB, GMA News