Blacklist International broke the code to emerge as the new champion in the MPL Philippines Season 7.
Blacklist unleashed Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario's Aldous backed by its signature "healing galing" meta in the winner-take-all Game 7 to complete a miraculous 4-3 comeback victory against Execration in the MPL-PH Grand Finals that went down the wire on Sunday night, May 30.
Boasting a 100 percent win rate, Wise's Aldous got enabled by longtime teammate Jonmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna's Estes and Jayson "ESON" Gerardo's Rafaela and eventually took over in the championship-clinching game.
Versatile sophomore Edward "EDWARD" Dapadap's Paquito and super rookie Kiel "OHEB" Soriano's Harith dominated their lanes and went on to aid Wise in dishing out the damage to seal the 17-8 win in 20 minutes in Game 7.
Execration's rookie Duane "Kelra" Pillas on Lunox came up with a savage kill streak in a successful Base defense to keep the team's title hopes alive but Wise's Aldous proved too much down the stretch.
The Tier One Entertainment-backed team seized its first MPL-PH title in franchise history as well as coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza and sixth man-analyst Dexter "DEX STAR" Alaba.
The iconic "V33Wise" duo ended seasons of heartbreaks as they snagged their first crown after finishing runner-up in Seasons 4 and 5, and fourth in Season 6 with Onic PH.
ESON, who came through with big-time Iron Hooks with Franco to spark the lopsided victory the crucial Game 6, joined the elite two-time MPL champions club. He won an MPL title with Cignal Ultra back in Season 2.
Blacklist is set for bigger title conquest in the Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Cup (MSC) 2021 on June 7-13.
Execration, which squandered away two championship match points and failed to give Billy "Z4pnu" Alfonso and coach Jomie "Pakba1ts" Abalos their long-awaited trophy, settled for runner-up but still has a shot at redemption in the MSC.
Exe drew first blood in the series after its late game-centric lineup anchored on Kiel VJ "Kielvj" Hernandez's Claude armed with Sea Halberd and rookie Duane "Kelra" Pillas' Alice equipped with Necklace of Durance decimated Blacklist's "healing galing" strategy centered on OhMyV33nus' Estes and ESON's Rafaela.
Kielvj unleashed a well-placed Blazing Duet while Kelra caught three heroes with the Blood Awe as Execration wiped out Blacklist to punctuate the 17-12 win in 20 minutes.
The "Double K Connection" of Kielvj on Roger and Kelra on Alice went ham as Execration once again rendered Blacklist's "healing galing" tactic useless for a quick 11-4 victory in Game 2.
Kielvj uncorked 19K damage to hit four kills and two assists against a death while Kelra went perfect with two kills and five assists.
Blacklist tweaked its draft and gave OhMyV33nus an offensive hero in Yve whose Real World Manipulation ultimate set up favorable team fights for a methodical 11-4 triumph in 14 minutes in Game 3.
With OhMyV33nus controlling Execration with the ultimate, OHEB's Lunox scored a triple kill in a five-man wipe out to close out the game.
Blacklist almost had a comeback in Game 4 as Wise's signature Yi Sun-Shin secured the Luminous Lord but the overwhelming damage from the ultimates of Kielvj's Ling, Kelra's Claude and E2MAX's Kagura burst down all Blacklist heroes in the final clash at the pit to grab the championship point.
Renzio on Gloo also proved instrumental in the 20-minute 17-8 romp as he executed multiple catches on OhMyV33nus' Estes and sustained over 160K damage from Blacklist to tally 12 assists and a kill against a single death.
OhMyV33nus' signature Mathilda kept Blacklist's title bid alive, taking flight to spearhead the team's ruthless aggression en route to a 12-7 victory in 17 minutes in Game 4. The veteran captain-support tallied a 3-1-8 stat line for a 92 percent kill participation.
ESON's Faramis went to work with his Cult of Altar in Blacklist's final push.
That proved to be the turning point of the series as Blacklist proceeded to win the last two games and emerge as the new MPL-PH champion.