Filipino champion Blacklist International kicked off its mission in the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup on a high note, decimating Indonesian runner-up Bigetron Alpha, 2-0, in Group C on Monday, June 7.
Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario got his hands on Aldous twice in the series but it was Edward "EDWARD" Dapadap on Paquito who took over first during Game 1.
Edward made life hard for Deven "RENBO" Markos' Kimmy and other Bigetron members with his constant rotation for huge pickoffs that enabled Blacklist to roll to a 19-5 romp in just 13 minutes.
The MPL Philippines Season 7 Finals MVP racked up five kills and five assists without a death as he dealt over 44K damage while also absorbing 30K damage from the Indonesians.
Eager to force a decider, Bigetron went on early aggression in Game 2 behind the Divine Judgment initiations of Rachmad "DreamS" Wahyudi's Kaja.
But Blacklist survived the early game through its "healing galing" meta anchored on captain Jonmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna's Estes and Jason "ESON" Gerardo's Rafaela.
Wise's Aldous slowly but surely got his Soul Steal stacks and wreaked havoc down the stretch. Two Luminous Lord takes and a Chase Fate by Wise on Maxwell "Maxxx" Alessandro's Lancelot sealed the deal for the PH team in 20 minutes.
With the sweep, Blacklist inched closer to the upper bracket playoffs. A triumph over Impunity KH of Cambodia will take coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza's squad to the winner's bracket.
Bigetron, which missed the services of star jungler Jabran "Branz" Wiloko who was suspended for a serious community violation during a stream, will need to win against Impunity to make it to the playoffs.