End of PH's SEA dominance as Blacklist falls to Onic in MSC Finals


At a glance

  • The Philippine's win streak in the international MLBB scene has finally come to an end as Blacklist International absorbed a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat at the hands of Onic Esports in the MSC 2023 Finals on Sunday, June 18.


The Philippine's win streak in the international MLBB scene has finally come to an end as Blacklist International absorbed a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat at the hands of Onic Esports in the MSC 2023 Finals on Sunday, June 18.

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Blacklist International couldn't get the job done against a strong Onic Esports side (Moonton Games)

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The Sky Kings were quick to flex their might taking an early 2-0 series lead before Filipino import Kairi “Kairi” Rayosdelsol put on the finishing touches in the series-clinching Game 6 win to give Indonesia its first international title since the M1 World Championship in 2019.

Onic Esports actually took down all of the PH representatives in the tournament after also eliminating ECHO in the semifinals, ending the Filipino’s four-year reign that saw them the last two MSC titles and the last three world championships.

Onic scored the first two points of the series behind the stellar performance from Calvin “CW” Winata who collected a 9-1-4 and 5-1-2 KDAs on the Beatrix and Moskov picks in Games 1 and 2 respectively.

Blacklist pumped some life to its title hopes with a tight 18-17 win in Game 3 with Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo leaving the way with her midlane Yve pick which scattered a 6-2-10 line. That also stopped Onic Esports’ 26-game winning streak tracing back to their campaign in the MPL Indonesia Season 11.

Onic Esports immediately answered with a masterful 13-2 win as Kairi and CW joined hands in dealing much of the damage for Onic with their Fanny and Beatrix picks. They both finished  with clean 4-0-2 and 5-0-3 lines respectively.

Not going down without a fight however were the Filipinos who suddenly found their groove and dominated the Indonesians for the first time in the series with a 19-4 Game 5 win. 

Edward “Edward” Dapadap held the fort for Blacklist with a perfect 6-0-6 line on the Lapu-Lapu while Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales who tallied a 4-0-7 KDA on the Claude.

Feeling that Blacklist were finally regaining its confidence, Kairi then took over in Game 6 as he completely shut down Owl’s signature Wanwan with his Fanny. His activity created space for the rest of Onic to turn the tables and close out the series with a 13-6 win.