Blacklist topples Bren Esports

By Robert Andaya

There is no sweep but Blacklist International proved it is better than Bren Esports right now.

With Johnmar “OhmyV33nus” Villaluna, Edward “Edward” Dapadap and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Lee “Owl” Gonzales leading the way, Blacklist stunned top seed Bren Esports, 3-1 in the playoffs of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Season 11 at the SMX Convention Center.

The win enabled the reigning MPL champions to advance to the upper bracket finals, where they will meet the winner between Echo and RSG Slate Philippines.

The winner will get the first slot to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asian Cup to be held in Cambodia.

Bren Esports, on the other hand, dropped to the lower bracket and will face the loser of the other semis match.

As expected, the match pitting two teams favored to win the championship was tight.

Blacklist International came out strong in the first game as OhmyV33nus, Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales and Edward “Edward” Dapadap joined hands for a 12-2 victory.

Gonzales’s Karrie took the MVP honor after scoring 4-1-2 Kill-Deaths-Assists.

“OhMyV33NUS” used one of his signature heroes Estes and finished 0-1-8 KDA.

Both teams exchanged blows and pushed each other to the limit in the second game. The two teams even had their chances of ending the game.

But with Blacklist making some smart plays, the second game again went in their favor, 26-19.

Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales’s Claude scored 9-4-10, Kenneth Carl “Yue”” Tadeo’s Yve had 7-4-12 and Edward Jay “EDWARD” Dapadap’s Terizla added 7-1-13 KDA for Blacklist’s convincing victory over Bren Esports in the second game.

With Bren Esports needing to win the third game to keep their hopes alive, they started the game aggressively and finished with a 9-2 victory to cut the deficit to 1-2.

Angelo Kyle “Pheww” Arcangel’s Joy shone brightest for Bren Esports as he finished with 4-0-2 and was named the MVP of the match.

Michael “KyleTzy” Sayson’s Fredrinn had 3-1-4 KDA.

Blacklist, however, was not to be denied.

Owl’s surprise Moskov took the MVP honor for the match with a perfect 4-0-4 line.

Yue’s Pharsa added 4-1-1 and “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna’s Estes had 3-3-10 KDA in Blacklist’s series-clinching 14-7 victory.