Blacklist International rules MLBB World Championship

MANILA, Philippines — Blacklist International came out on top of an all-Filipino M3 World Championship Grand Final, sweeping ONIC Philippines 4-0 to claim the Mobile Legends World Championship title for the Philippines for the second straight year at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Following in the footsteps of BREN Esports, which won the M2 World Championships by also fighting in the lower brackets, Blacklist has been fighting tooth and claw since there were defeated by North America's BloodThirstyKings (BTK) last December 11. Since the upset defeat, Blacklist has dominated the competition, dominating rival teams ONIC Esports and RRQ Hoshi from Indonesia, Brazil's Keyd Stars, and home-team EVOS SG.

ONIC Philippines, on the other hand, made waves in the Upper Bracket, sweeping all their opponents and booking the first grand finals slot.

Blacklist exacted their revenge on BTK with an intense 3-1 win to set up an all-Philippine Grand Finals.

Reminiscent of the MPL PH S8 finals, ONIC Philippines and Blackist once again faced each other not just to determine the best team in the country, but also the No.1 team in the world.

ONIC Philippines started Game One aggressively with Mark "Markyyyyy" Capacio taking down Kiel "OHEB'" Soriano twice in the first two minutes. This snowballed into ONIC PH taking control of the map by the fifth-minute mark, but Blacklist dragged the game to give them an advantage. A team fight to take the enhanced lord turned the tides back in favor of Blacklist, and the Philippine champs quickly took turrets and moved into the base inhibitor. 

But ONIC PH managed to defend, taking down three heroes on the opponent’s side and managing to stay alive. The second fight for the lord, however, saw ONIC down by four heroes with Blacklist ending the game at 21 minutes and four seconds, 18-14. MVP of the game went to Soriano, even with the slow start, ending the game with five kills, five deaths and 10 assists.

Game Two saw trades on kills and objectives for both teams, but ONIC overcommitted on a crucial team fight at the 11 minute mark, which saw Blacklist downing four heroes on the side of ONIC and quickly heading for the base inhibitor to end the game. ONIC tried to defend but the resulting team fight saw a wipeout at 13:36 and game win at 13:40, 19-7. Soriano once again was named MVP with his signature hero Beatrix, and a kill/death/assist stat of 8/1/8.

Blacklist took an early Game Three lead to ensure control of the map, with ONIC taking objectives while Blacklist International trading with kills. A team encounter at the eighth minute saw ONIC bounce back, leaving Blacklist down three heroes, then following it up by taking the lord and the lead by the tenth minute. Blacklist retaliated by engaging and winning team fights, eventually winning the 21-minute game, 20-17, bringing the MPL PH two time-champs at match-point. Edward "EDWARD" Dapadap ended up as the MVP with five kills, four deaths, seven assists.

Knowing how close they are to that world title after having been denied two international titles this year in MSC and MPLI, Blacklist took an early 5-1 lead by the fifth minute. They denied ONIC a chance to retaliate as Blacklist ended things quickly at 13 minutes and 48 seconds, 7-15. 

Grand Finals MVP went to “Filipino Sniper” Soriano with his signature kills throughout the four games as while Blacklist cemented its status as not only the best Mobile Legends team in the Philippines but also in the world.

Meanwhile, Blacklist, along with Tier One Entertainment, then pledged a portion of their M3 World Championship winnings to help the victims of Typhoon Odette.

Host Mara Aquino asked for a few moments of silence for the victims of the recent typhoon that devastated Visayas and Mindanao.

On Sunday, Tier One Entertainment co-founder and CEO Tryke "TryQ" Gutierrez took to social media to share photos of the devastation felt by Filipinos in the affected areas.

Guiterrez also barede Tier One and Blacklist’s intention of using the prize money, whether they win or lose in the Grand Finals, to help out the victims.

In winning the title, Blacklist International swept ONIC Philippines took home a prize of $300,000 (approximately more than P15 million). As they were feted on stage, coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza stressed their intention to help the typhoon victims.

"We are also thinking about our fellow countrymen who were victims of the typhoon," said Ricaplaza during the interview after the awarding ceremony. "As help, a portion of our prize will be donated to them. We want to celebrate the holidays by giving a smile to the faces of our fellow countrymen."