By REYNALD MAGALLON
Blacklist International easily cruised to an emphatic 2-0 victory over the skidding TNC Pro-Team in the MPL Philippines Season 8 on Saturday, September 25.
Boasting a new look ‘UBE’ line up with a two-marksman setup, the league-leading Blacklist made quick work of the cellar dwellers as it finished Game 2 in just a little over 11 minutes of play. Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario on his Yi Sun-Shin punished TNC by dominating the jungle battle against counterpart Daniel “CHUUU” Chu’s jungle Baxia.
Wise finished with an immaculate 7-0-5 KDA, all while securing three Turtles and enough to quickly snowball in the early game. Jonmar “OHMyV33nus” Villaluna provided the support with three kills and seven assists against two deaths, while Salic “Hadji” Imam on his Pharsa took three kills, four assists against a single death in a lopsided 16-4 Game 2 win.
Blacklist actually had to overcome a slow start in Game 1 after allowing TNC to score six kills in the early game to take a lead that ballooned by as much as 3k gold.
However, a crucial clash near Blacklist’s red buff pit that saw Chuuu’s jungle Baxia and Frediemar “3martzy’s” Serafico’s Thamuz getting taken down allowed the defending champions to get their bearings going.
Blacklist’s Lord take at the 15-minute mark enabled them to catch up and eventually turn things around. It was all Blacklist since then as Hadji took the MVP spotlight on his Vale with a perfect 2-0-6 KDA while the double marksmen in Wise’s YSS and Kiel “OHEB” Soriano’s Beatrix worked wonders with 4-1-3 and 2-1-4 KDAs respectively to finish Game 1 in 20 minutes, 9-6.
With the victory, Blacklist recorded its longest win streak in its franchise history with nine, eclipsing the previous stretch of eight last season. They still sit atop of the standings with a 9-0 card and good for 23 points.
TNC, meanwhile, will now have to dig deep if they want to avoid elimination as they fell last in the standings with a 2-6 win-loss slate with only six points to show. They have now lost five straight, all via sweep.