Blacklist International's shock loss to FireFlux Esports proved to be too costly as it set up an early collision course with top contender and Indonesian champion Onic Esports in the M5 World Championship playoffs which is set to unwrap on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The Filipino crew, which is making its third straight M-series playoffs appearance, finished second in the Group B standings, paving the way for it to be drawn against the Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol-led Onic in the first round of the upper bracket.

Blacklist could have avoided an early clash with a fellow contender if not for the disastrous 2-0 loss to FireFlux to close out the group stage.

The Codebreakers were initially poised to take the top spot in Group B but found Ahmet Taha “Rosa” Batir and Furkan “Apex47” Akbulut tough nuts to crack in the shocking loss. Although both teams finished with a 2-1 record, FireFlux got the top seed due to the winner over the other rule.

Onic should come as the favorite in the match especially after coming out of Group A unscathed in three matches.

Meanwhile, the other Filipino representative in AP.Bren drew Cambodia’s SeeYouSoon in the first round following a sweep of its group stage assignment in Group C. The MPL PH Season 12 champions lorded over their competitions and have yet to drop a single game so far in the tournament.

Expected to lead the way for the SYS is Filipino import Michael “MP the King” Endino.

Over at the other pairings, Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy and his Geek Fam Indonesia face up against Myanmar’s Burmese Ghouls while FireFlux takes on Deus Vult.

Some Filipino imports got the early boot in the tournament with Chris Amiel “Mielow” Enobio and Ziameth-Jei “Zia” Caluya of North American team TheOhioBrothers falling short of advancing to the knockout rounds.

The team managed to exit with a bang though after dragging Malaysian champion Homebois with them with a 2-1 win.

Likewise, Kenneth “Saxa” Fedelin and Deomark “Mikko” Tabangay couldn’t carry their Malaysian crew Team SMG to the next round after finishing the group stage with a 1-2 record. Also suffering the same fate was Jaymark “Hadess” Lazaro whose Team Flash also finished with a 1-2 record, not enough to reach the playoffs.