Blacklist International came through in the pressure-packed Games 4 and 5 to overcome a 2-1 series deficit and escape Bren Esports, 3-2, to barge into the upper bracket finals of the MPL Philippines Season 10 playoffs at the Blue Leaf Cosmopolitan on Friday, Oct. 21.
Facing a hungry and gritty Bren Esports which took the series lead after a tightly contested Game 3, Blacklist once again banked on its experience and signature poise to take the last two victories to clinch the series and set up a dance with ECHO for one of the M4 World Championship tickets.
Blacklist bounced back big time after the third game loss, cruising to a quick 15-5 victory behind the relentless attack from its sustain lineup anchored on Hadji and OhmyV33nus' Faramis and Estes picks.
With the two dictating the tempo, Blacklist took the momentum from Bren with a 10-minute victory to force the winner-take-all.
Not allowing to lose its shot for an upper bracket slot was the young Bren Esports team which then put up a brave stand and actually held its own against Blacklist in Game 5.
A pick-off on Pandora’ Phoveus, however, gave Blacklist a window of opportunity to secure the Luminous Lord for its final siege. A Heavy Spin ultimate from Wise’s Akai then caught Super Marco’s Irithel, weakening Bren’s base defense as Blacklist went for the tower lock for a 17-11 clincher.
Hadji on the Pharsa dropped a 6-2-5 line while Oheb was untouchable on his Calude to finish with a 6-0-7 KDA in the deciding match.
It was a back-and-forth affair in Game 3 with both teams having their own chances to pull off the victory only to be foiled by the other’s impressive plays.
It was a test of endurance but the precise shotcalling in the final Lord fight proved to be the difference as Bren Esports managed to handle the threat of Edward split pushing in the top lane before stealing the Lord from the rest of Blacklist in the ensuing play
Bren then completed a five-man wipe of the M3 World Champions o cap off the 22-14 victory in the pivotal Game 3 win in the grueling 30 minutes of play.
Owgwen set up the play for Bren with a perfect 0-0-17 KDA on the Mathilda. Pandora held the frontline with a 4-2-10 line on the Fredrin while Super Marco provided the late game damage with a 6-2-8 tally on the Irithel.