Blacklist edges past ONIC PH, moves closer to playoff berth

Photo from Moonton

by Drew Malihan

MAKATI - The Codebreakers are one decryption away from making another post-season run.

Blacklist International needs a reverse sweep to claim all three points as they eke past already playoffs-bound ONIC Philippines, two games to one, to close Week 6 of MPL Philippines Season 13.

The win puts them at a considerable advantage to claim the final seat in the playoffs, with a single point in next week's matches enough to complete the top six.

However, ONIC PH didn't make things easy for Blacklist as they handled a 16-6 beatdown in the first game, with Blacklist not getting a major objective in the 22-minute match.

Jomearie "Escalera" delos Santos was huge for the Sonics, with his Grock's 13 assists being big time for his team, while Duane "Kelra" Pillas' Natan scored 10 and assisted three more without going down once.

Stephen"Sensui" Castillo's Akai became a non-factor in Game 1, going down four times while not much syncing with Salic "Hadji" Imam's Arlott who was slain five times.

ONIC's fifth-minute skirmish near Sensui's purple buff defined the game, with a lost turret earlier backfiring against Blacklist and the former didn't look back.

Edward "Edward" Dapadap's signature Benedetta pick played a huge part in the second match, where Blacklist decimated ONIC in 10 minutes to tie the series.

The veteran offlaner grabbed three kills and one assist, putting lane rival Jem "Jem" Lanojan's Paquito at bay for pretty much the whole match, while Hadji's Arlott bounced back, assisting seven of eight Blacklist kills.

This time, it was ONIC who didn't have any major objectives won and did not topple a single Blacklist turret, as King Cyric "K1NGKONG" Perez's Barats went down five times.

The Codebreakers needed a 15-minute Game 3 to complete the comeback as they countered a surprise Moskov pick from the Sonics for Kelra.

With Blacklist teaming up for an aggressive playstyle from the mid-game, Kiel "Oheb" Soriano cleared his lane eight minutes into the match, while preventing Kelra from making a big impact.

"Agent Zero" Edward played huge in the match once more, with his Cici going for six kills and six assists, again outplaying Jem who was using the Terizla.

Blacklist will seek their playoff ticket against tough opposition in ECHO and RSG Philippines next week while ONIC will try to finish the regular season strong against an already-eliminated TNC Pro Team and defending champs AP.Bren.

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