Blacklist glad to silence loud, intense RRQ crowd as they march to M4 upper bracket finals

JAKARTA — Blacklist International expected no less from the fans of Indonesian favorite RRQ Hoshi as the two slugged it out on Wednesday at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M4 World Championship upper bracket semifinals at the Tennis Indoor Stadium Senayan.

Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna admitted they already knew the crowd would be loud and intense right from the get-go. After all, RRQ Hoshi has been a dominant force in the Indonesian MLBB scene for quite some time now.

OhMyV33nus also said the roaring crowd was among the factors why they lost in the opening game and gave RRQ Hoshi the momentum at the start.

"Actually expected naman namin na magiging gano'n 'yung crowd and I think isa 'yun sa mga kailangan talaga naming kaharapin, especially if we're up against an Indonesian team and especially RRQ," the Blacklist roamer said in the post-game interview.

"At first sobrang intense, as in sobrang intense talaga and I think dahil doon... it's one of the major factors kung bakit kami natalo nung Game 1."

("Actually we expected the crowd to be like that and I think that's one of the things we really need to face, especially if we're up against an Indonesian team and especially RRQ. At first it was very intense and I think it's one of the major factors why we lost Game 1.")

Despite the loud crowd, though, Blacklist still managed to escape the hosts. After losing game one, they went on to win the next two games for a 2-1 lead.

RRQ Hoshi then dominated the fourth game and sent the series to a decider, but Blacklist survived and clinched a spot at the upper bracket finals.

For OhMyV33nus, passing a tough test such as that came from years of experience competing on a big stage.

"Pero s'yempre, hindi naman kami naging world champion nang matatalo lang kami ng dahil sa crowd. Pero moving forward, it's a very good experience," she added.

("But of course we didn't become world champions that we're just going to lose because of the crowd. But moving forward, it's a very good experience.")

Blacklist head coach Kristoffer "Bon Chan" Ricaplaza also chimed in on the loud RRQ crowd, saying he's hoping to keep a healthy rivalry between the two teams, which happened to also be among the most watched teams across the world.

"I think it's also a good addition that they have a huge fan [base] and maybe it's also a big factor that's why it went down to Game Five but we are also thankful, because for RRQ fans it becomes [an] exciting and thrilling match," the champion tactician said.

"Let's just keep this healthy rivalry."

—MGP, GMA Integrated News