Onic Philippines asserted its mastery over Blacklist International in the MPL Philippines Season 9 regular season with another 2-1 victory on Friday, March 18.
The M3 runner-up completed a regular season sweep against the world champions with Onic defeating Blacklist both in a 2-1 fashion in their two meetings.
Just like their first series, the match remained close in the first two games before Onic PH prevailed in the deciding Game 3.
With the series tied at one game apiece, Onic went back to what it does best, splitting the map with the constant lane pressure from Dlarskie’s Uranus and Markyyy’s Lunox. Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy also disrupted the Blacklist rotation with his pesky Natalia pick to dictate the tempo of the game.
Blacklist however survived three Lord marches with Oheb’s Beatrix and Hadji’s Lylia anchoring the team’s base defense.
It looked like Blacklist finally had the chance to steal the game from Onic after a pick-off on Baloyskie’s Natalia but the counter engage from Kairi’s Ling during the 29-minute Lord dance allowed Onic to take down two players from Blacklist and seal the series.
Kairi took the MVP honors of that game with a flawless 5-0-4 KDA in Onic’s 15-9 series clinching win.
Onic drew the series first blood with a come-from-behind 15-17 Game 1 win.
Blacklist had the chance to end the game at the 12-minute mark after a three-man pick-off against Onic but Markyyy on the Clint and Hatred on the midlane Lunox held on against four Blacklist players, picking off Kevier’s Lancelot to complete the base defense.
That pickoff also gave a window for Onic to secure the Lord and drag the match to the late game where its lineup anchored on Clint and Lunox are known to strive best.
In Game 2, Blacklist made sure not to repeat the same mistake as it took the lead early and never relinquished it behind its objective-centered gameplay.
Just like in Game 1, Blacklist had the chance to end the game in the first Lord march but the crew remained patient this time round as it focused on melting Onic inhibitor turrets.
Blacklist then used its second Lord to split Onic’s defense in the Lord siege to force a decider after its low scoring 11-7 Game 2 win.
Onic PH improved to a 5-3 record with 13 points on the board while Blacklist, which salvaged a point in the series, kept its chances alive for the sixth spot with a 1-7 standing with eight points to show.