Execration completed its amazing lower bracket run this time around, taking a sweet 4-1 revenge victory over Blacklist International to conquer the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2021 on Sunday night, June 13.
After dropping the championship showdown opener, Execration went on to win four straight games highlighted by two come-from-behind triumphs to seize the regional supremacy and the $70,000 (over P3 million) top prize.
Exe finally gave veteran Billy "Z4pnu" Alfonso his first Mobile Legends trophy as the Jomie "Pakba1ts" Abalos-coached team avenged its heartbreaking 4-3 loss to coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza's Blacklist in the MPL Philippines Season 7 finale late last month.
Joshua "Ch4knu" Mangilog and the crew worked their way to set up an all-Filipino MSC finals, beating Impunity KH of Cambodia (2-1) and Malaysian winner RSG MY (2-0) before posting a vengeful 3-1 win against Indonesian titlist and M1 world champion EVOS Legends in the lower bracket.
Captain-support Jonmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Blacklist were not able to break the code this time on the international stage as they settled for the runner-up prize of $30,000 (more than P1.4 million).
The Tier One Entertainment-backed squad actually got off to a great start with a methodical 9-4 win in the series opener, but the sister company of LuponWXC retaliated with a dominant 16-3 victory in Game 2, inflicting the former's first game loss in MSC 2021.
Execration then showed its signature comeback spirit in the next two games, with Renz "Renzio" Cadua and Duane "Kelra" Pillas' Esmeralda leading the fightback in Game 3.
Renzio stepped up anew in Game 4 with his Paquito going at the frontline of a massive team fight victory that sparked Exe's resurgence en route to a 24-15 win.
Once again, Execration underwent the same situation in the MPL finals where they held the championship point, but this time Z4pnu's crew showed that they have learned their lesson.
Exe dictated the tempo right from the get-go in Game 5 with the "Double K Connection" of Kelra's Chang'e and Kiel VJ "Kielvj" Hernandez's Brody unleashing the burst damage.
Ch4knu's Diggie, Patrick "E2MAX" Caidic's Rafaela and Renzio's Gloo were the ones protecting the "Double K" brothers on the backline as Execration punctuated its MSC championship run with a 29-13 triumph in 14 minutes.
