TNC sends Blacklist reeling to second straight loss


TNC Pro Team ML dominated defending champion Blacklist International with a 2-0 sweep to notch its second straight win in the MPL Philippines Season 9 on Saturday, Feb. 19.

Photo from TNC

TNC proved that its opening game win over Omega Esports was no fluke as it took down the M3 World Champion with a clean execution in the two-game stretch.

Daniel “SDzyz” Chu showed the way once more, unloading solid performances on the Lancelot with a perfect 7-0-2 KDA in the opener and 4-3-2 showing in the series clincher.

TNC banked on its objective-centered gameplay evident on the SDzyz’s emblem choice for his jungle Lancelot in Game 1.

Equipped with the jungle emblem with Demon Slayer talent, SDzyz dominated the jungle battle against Blacklist rookie Kent “Kevier” Lopez on the Paquito to spearhead the team’s 15-5 drubbing of Blacklist.

Yasuwo on his Clint provided support with a 3-0-6 KDA while Escalera impressed in a surprise Kadita pick with a 3-27 score line.

Screenshot from MPL livestream

Blacklist tried to find its rhythm in Game 2 with unusual picks as Salic “Hadji” Imam utilized a roaming Natalia while Kiel “Oheb” Soriano who was known for his marksman picks used a gold lane Chou.

The ploy, however, still failed to douse the blistering TNC performance as it made the timely adjustments with Yasuwo on the Beatrix and Kram on the Esmeralda switching lane to neutralize the Blacklist picks.

Blacklist, behind the efforts of Edward on the Dyrroth and Eson on the Cecilion, managed to drag match to the late game. A key pick-off on Oheb down bottom lane at the 18-minute mark and a subsequent kill on Eson, however, spelled doom for Blacklist as TNC went for the GG push to end the series via 12-13 win in Game 2.