Blacklist vs Onic PH advances to the Grand Finals of M3
By Arvin N. Migallos
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| PHOTO: Smart Sports |
Philippine representatives Blacklist International and Onic PH will come across each other again, only this time not for MPL-PH title but for the M3 World Championship.
Both teams defeated Blood Thirsty Kings, 3-0 for Onic PH in the upper bracket finals and 3-1 for BLCK in the lower bracket finals, while Blacklist swept Evos SG, 3-0. in the lower bracket semifinals.On the upper bracket finals, Onic PH gave BTK a dose of reality as they were able to outplay the latter team with the first two games ending below 20 minutes.
Onic PH struggled in Game 3 but Gerald "Dlarskie" Trinchera's Yu Zhong led his team in the final charge with a KDA of 3 kills and 7 assists while not having a single death.
The opponent was underestimating us, belittling us. But in the world championships, no one should be underestimated,” said Onic Allen “Baloyskie” Baloy.
On the other hand, Blacklist International have come to the last two team in the way in their stacked lower bracket run, making quick work of the host country team Evos SG to book their way to a rematch against BTK.
Game 1 was a complete back and forth between the teams, but BLCK executed a crucial pick-off with the help of Edward Jay "Edward" Dapadap's Paquito flank to BTK and Michael "MobaZane" Cosgun's Granger to drew first blood, 1-0.
Game 2 was a quicker game as BLCK kept on outplaying BTK with Salik "Hadji" Imam's Chou picking off MobaZane's Granger to acquire match point.
BTK bounced back in the third game as they were given their comfort picks of Lolita, Roger, and Beatrix which were pivotal in the 18-minute lord clash to extend the series, 2-1.
BTK almost extended the series to a decider, but Hadji and Blacklist has other plans as his Grock knocks three members of the former inside the Real World Manipulation of Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna's Yve in the 25-minute mark which eventually led to a wipe out and eliminating the strongest underdogs in the tournament, 3-1.
Both teams secure a combined total of $420,000(Php21,000,000+). In a post, Blacklist said that a portion of their earnings will be donated to the victims of Typhoon Odette.