Blacklist International and RSG Slate PH Topple Both Top Seeds in MPL PH S11
It was a day of great upsets on the second day of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines Season 11 Playoffs as Blacklist International and RSG Slate PH toppled both top-seeded Bren Esports and ECHO Philippines, respectively.
Blacklist International books their ticket to the Upper Bracket Finals of the #MPLPH Season 11! 💯
The Code Breakers drops Bren Esports to the Lower Bracket, 3-1. #BreakTheCode #LakasNgPinas #MPLPhilippines pic.twitter.com/Odu0lCUDRW
— MPL Philippines (@MplPhilippines) May 5, 2023
The day started with a 3-1 victory from Blacklist International’s battle of world championship organizations against Bren Esports.
In Game 1, Blacklist’s Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap’s early kills against Bren’s David “FlapTzy” Canon and Angelo “Pheww” Arcangel dictated the game’s momentum, eventually resulting in Blacklist’s first game win against Bren for this season. EDWARD then went on to secure a game MVP performance come the second game of the series, recording a 7/1/13 KDA in the 26-minute game to secure the match point for the agents.
Unfortunately, Bren took Game 3 by asserting themselves early thanks to Pheww’s 4/0/3 game MVP performance. Despite their third-game blunder, Blacklist recovered and took the fourth game with Lee “Owl” Gonzales and his 4/0/4 Moskov, thereby letting Owl take two game MVPs from the series from Games 1 and 4.
With their current performance, Blacklist inches closer to yet another MSC appearance—the only crown that is currently missing in their trophy cabinet— to which Jonmar “OhMyV33NUS” Villaluna revealed that winning the title isn’t a primary goal.
“Personally, hindi naman namin goal na mukumpleto lahat ng dapat makumpleto para lang may mapatunayan (Personally, it’s not our goal to complete everything that needs to be completed just to prove something),” Blacklist’s team captain shared. “Katulad ng sinabi ko ng regular season, mas importante sa amin na mapakita namin na consistent kaming nagcocompete (Just like what I said during the regular season, it’s more important for us to show we’re competing consistently),” they continued.
GG RSG! 🫡
RSG Slate Philippines advances to the Upper Bracket Finals of #MPLPH Season 11 Playoffs after a nail-biting series! 💯
The Raiders drop the reigning world champions Echo to the Lower Bracket, 3-2.#LakasNgPinas #MPLPhilippines pic.twitter.com/1HscjxX1CU
— MPL Philippines (@MplPhilippines) May 5, 2023
Moving on to the next upset, defending MSC champions RSG Slate PH took on and won against reigning M4 champions ECHO Philippines in a series that went all the way to five games.
The series started with a tie; RSG got the first game to boot while ECHO tied the series in the second game. Things started to look bleak for RSG as ECHO secured the third game to be up 2-1 in the series.
As luck would have it, RSG’s John “Irrad” Abarquez went on a complete mayhem with his slick performance on his Lancelot, helping RSG take home the fourth game as the MVP while earning the moniker Irradcelot from the casters. After their inspiring Game 4 win, RSG then went on to win Game 5 to secure a 3-2 victory against ECHO.
When asked how he felt facing off against Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno, Irrad revealed that he confidently believes he’s better mechanically than ECHO’s M4-winning jungler.
“Confident ako na lamang ako sa mechanics [kaysa] kay [KarlTzy] (I am confident I’m better in mechanics than KarlTzy),” Irrad shared his thoughts in their post-series interview. “Ayun yung kinukuhanan ko ng lakas ng loob kaya consistent ako ngayon (That’s where I get my fortitude and the reason for my consistence today).”
Via MPL PH
With their respective wins, Blacklist International and RSG Slate PH will be facing off against each other in the upper bracket to determine who will secure their ticket to the grand final first. Meanwhile, Bren Esports and ECHO Philippines dropped to the lower bracket wherein only one can remain after their matchup.
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