Veteran tank Jayson "ESON" Gerardo's Franco pulled off crucial hooks as Blacklist International posted a comeback 2-1 victory against Aura PH for a fiery start in the MPL Philippines Season 7 on Sunday, March 21.
ESON set up huge pickoffs on Aura's important heroes with the Iron Hook plus Flicker back combo to power Blacklist's lopsided 16-7 win in the deciding Game 3.
The Season 2 champion from Cignal Ultra pulled Allen "Greed_" Baloy's Chang'e and Jaypee "Jaypee" Dela Cruz's Lancelot to foil Aura's final defense before Blacklist wiped out the opposition to close out the series.
ESON finished with two kills and eight assists against a lone death while rookie side laner Kiel "OHEB" Soriano's Harith dished out the magic burst en route to nine kills and four assists with only one death.
Through the come-from-behind series triumph, Blacklist netted two points in Group B while Aura, which won 2-1 over Work Auster Force in the opening day, still improved with three markers in Group A.
The Tier One Entertainment-backed squad also gave the iconic duo of Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario their first MPL win outside Onic PH.
Aura actually drew first blood in the series after beautifully executing its draft led by the Kagura of Greed_, Alice of Benedict "Bennyqt" Gonzales and Benedetta of Ashley "Killuash" Cruz.
Greed_ posted five kills and four assists, Killuash also hit five kills and an assist while Bennyqt tallied two kills and five assists as all of them did not die even once to ignite Aura's early breakaway en route to a 15-4 romp in 12 minutes.
But Blacklist bounced back big in Game 2 with Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna's damage-oriented Popol and Kupa armed with Thunder Belt and Demon Hunter Sword.
OhMyV33nus fueled Blacklist's 17-5 rout of Aura with a perfect 4-0-7 KDA while Wise's YSS and Edward "EDWARD" Dapadap's Paquito each tallied five kills to go with a combined nine assists.