Blacklist International stunned Indonesian powerhouse RRQ Hoshi, 3-0, to advance to the lower bracket semifinals of the Mobile Legends Bang Bang: M3 World Championship at the Suntec Singapore Convention Centre on Friday, Dec. 17.
Blacklist proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of the Indonesian squads after sending both the MPL Indonesia champion Onic Esports and RRQ Hoshi home with 2-1 and 3-0 series wins respectively.
The two squads lived up to the billing in Game 1 of their titanic clash which was seen as the potential Finals matchup prior to the start of the tournament.
Blacklist got the early control behind OhymV33nus’ Mathilda and Hadji’s Pharsa but RRQ came back roaring in the late game after they managed to drag the match to 35 minutes. RRQ banked on Alberttt’s Natan to easily defend the base against every single Lord march from Blacklist.
Blacklist had some anxious moments in the latter stages of the match after Alberttt managed to take the Lord that gave them the chance to go for their own push. RRQ threatened to pull off a huge comeback but were spoiled by Hadji’s Pharsa during the Lord defense.
A crucial pick-off on Alberttt’s Natan spelled doom for the Indonesians as Blacklist went for the GG push to prevail in the nail-biting 26-14 win in a marathon 35-minute Game 1.
Wise on the Yi Sun-Shin spearheaded the attack for the Filipinos with a flawless 13-0-9 KDA.
It was all Blacklist from that point as the Game 1 loss seemed to have crushed the spirits of the Indonesians
Blacklist put up a much-cleaner Game 2 as it steamrolled to an 11-11 victory in just 14 minutes. This time around, the Filipinos made sure that the Indonesians will not be able to drag the game with a brilliant Phoveus pick of Coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza for Edward.
Edward and Hadji on the tank Chou disrupted the enemy lines and their mid game tempo allowing Oheb’s Natan and Wise’s YSS to dominate the team fights and give Blacklist a commanding 2-0 lead.
Blacklist continued to roll as it put the fight out of RRQ in Game 3 led by Oheb on the Clint with a perfect 10-0-2 KDA. It was wire-to-wire 13-6 victory for the Filipinos to kick RRQ out of the tournament.
With the win, Blacklist now awaits the winner of the match between Malaysia's Todak and Singapore's EVOS SG in the next round.