Third time's the charm for the dynamic duo of Jonmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario after they helped Blacklist International to the championship title in the MPL Philippines Season 7.
During their stint in Onic PH, the "V33Wise" tandem--as what the MPL community fondly calls them--were the focal point of the unconventional healing strategy that sparked the team's rise from being a league rookie to a runner-up finisher to Sunsparks (now Aura PH) in Season 4.
The two once again steered Onic's strong run in Season 5 but eventually fell prey to the history-making Sunsparks in the grand finals.
Come Season 6, however, Onic suffered its worst finish as it settled for fourth place after losing via reverse sweep to Execration. And in a surprising development, the team traded OhMyV33nus and Wise to Blacklist, which exited right in the first round of the playoffs, for rising star Kairi "Kairi" Rayosdelsol (known then as FULL CLIP).
Onic's downfall in Season 6 saw several critics pointing at the limited hero pool of both OhMyV33nus and Wise especially with the meta favoring flashy supports such as Selena and Natalia as well as assassins on the jungling role.
But the V33Wise duo knew that their playstyle only needs to find a team which can harness its full potential and that turned out to be Blacklist.
"All this time naniniwala ako sa sarili ko na kayang-kaya ko mag-champion. Even yung fall down namin nung Season 6, alam ko sa sarili ko na hindi ako 'yung mali, hindi ako 'yung problema, which is tingin ko ayun 'yung napatunayan ko ngayong Season 7. Maraming-maraming salamat sa Blacklist International sa pagbigay samin ng opportunity para ma-lead 'yung team na 'to," said OhMyV33nus in the post-championship match interview following Blacklist's thrilling 4-3 comeback victory against Execration on Sunday night, May 30.
"Napakalaking redemption nito para sa'kin kasi napatunayan ko nga na hindi ako 'yung problema."
Wise, who proved the doubters wrong with his superior marksman jungle gameplay this season on top of having Ling and Aldous up his sleeves, also gave credit to the whole Blacklist squad.
"Na-down talaga ako dun sa Season 6. Pero ngayon, from Week 1 to playoffs then champion, naniwala kasi 'yung mga kakampi ko sa'kin. 'Yung mga kampi ko ngayon, parang mga kapatid ko talaga, close kami. Kaya ayun naniwala na 'ko sa sarili ko na kaya ko at pinakita nila na may tiwala sila sa'kin kaya ayun naka-redemption," said Wise.
With Blacklist coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza and analyst-sixth man Dexter "DEX STAR" Alaba favoring OhMyV33nus' healing strat which became known as the "nice one, baby" meta, Blacklist rose to the top during the regular season with a 92 percent win rate.
The Tier One Entertainment-back squad then beat Bren Esports, Aura PH and Execration in the playoffs to seize its first MPL title in franchise history.
"Sinuwerte lang din siguro talaga kami kasi nakadepende rin talaga ‘yan sa team mo, sa coach, sa teammates mo, kung paano ka mag fi-fit in," said OhMyV33nus.
"Sobrang saya namin kasi nahanap namin 'yung Blacklist family para mapakita talaga namin 'yung potential namin at kasi mas na-enhance nila 'yun. So doon talaga lumabas 'yung lakas namin dahil sa kanila."