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| Screencap from Mobile Legends Esports |
by Drew Malihan
MANILA - Blacklist International moves closer in their lower bracket run in the M5 World Championship as they averted a 0-1 deficit to a 3-1 win over Geek Fam inside the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Friday.
The defeat marked the end of the road for the MPL Indonesia runners-up, exiting the tournament in joint fifth-sixth place after a maiden campaign that saw them top Group D, including wins against Deus Vult and TheOhioBrothers.
Geek Fam started strong in Game 1, overwhelming Blacklist International, ten kills to one, with Mark "Markyyy" Capacio's Claude dealing an MVP performance of three kills and four assists.
Manuel "Nnael" Simbolon's Baxia had a field day, not giving Stephen "Sensui" Castillo's Fredrinn any major objectives under 15 minutes, including three turtles and two lords.
However, Blacklist began to crawl back in Game 2 with a late-game performance from the quintet, clinching the equalizer with Renejay "Renejay" Barcase's Mathilda scoring two kills and 16 assists.
The Codebreakers only needed the final lord of the game, as despite lagging back from the objective game in the past 18 minutes, secured the last one and snowballed onto Geek Fam.
Sensui's instincts came into play in Game 3 as the jungler won over the long game once more in 17 minutes, getting two of three lords while tallying 3/1/5 KDA.
The Hitman turned to the Heal Man in the fourth game to close the series, tallying three kills and 10 assists with the signature Estes pick, including clutch Blessing of the Moon Goddess ultimates, including a last-minute team fight in the 17 minute, leaving only Markyyy to defend the exposed base.
Kenneth "Yue" Tadeo's pocket Gord pick also came to play, getting three kills and nine assists while Edward "Edward" Dapadap's Terizla registeref 2/0/9.
With the win, Blacklist will move to a sure top-four spot as well as to the lower bracket semifinals, going against the winner between Cambodia's See You Soon and Europe's Deus Vult.
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