Blacklist International welcomes the challenge of having the target on its back when it tries to defend its title in the M4 World Championship in January in Bali, Indonesia.
Being the first world champion to get back into the M-series and have a chance to defend the title, head coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza knows full well that the rest of the competition are eyeing to take them down.
“Siyempre expect the unexpected sa mga makakalaban namin. Siguro natuto na rin kami doon sa nangyari nung M3 na yung kalaban namin ay BTK na talagang masasabi natin na naghanda,” said Bon Chan when asked about his expectations ahead of the tournament during the virtual send-off press conference on Friday, Dec. 9.
“Ngayon siguro nagsisimula na mag-practice yung mga teams na ka-bracket namin and sigurado samin sila nakatingin dahil ayun nga, iniisip nila na team to beat kaya kailangan din naming mag-handa after ng laro namin sa IESF,” he added.
Blacklist started its dominant run last year when it won back-to-back titles in the MPL Philippine Seasons 7 and 8, the M3 title and runner-up finishes in the MPL Invitational and MLBB Southeast Asia Cup.
The now three-time champions are on pace of another shot at history as after conquering the Southeast Asian Games early this year, winning back the MPL PH title in Season 9 and are making a good account of themselves in the IESF World Esports Championship with an assured bronze, Blacklist can become the first ever team to win back-to-back world titles.
Aware of the daunting task, captain Jonmar “OhmyV33nus” Villaluna is hard pressed with the team’s preparations and mind set heading into the world tilt.
“Kailangan talaga mag-focus. Yun yung number one and siguro mag-dobleng grind since mas batak yung mga kasama namin this time,” said OhmyV33nus.
Interestingly, Blacklist is expected to have much of the challenge early in the competition with Filipino coaches who are very familiar with the MPL titlists, coming in as their opponents in the group stage.
Blacklist will take on John Michael “Zico” Dizon’s Burn X Flash and Steven “Dale” Vitug’s Falcon Esports along with Turkey’s Incendio Supremacy in the preliminaries which will begin on January 1.