M3 World Championship: Blacklist International stay alive with RRQ Hoshi sweep

Filipino powerhouse Blacklist International continued their dominant run at the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) M3 World Championship with a resounding 3-0 sweep over Indonesia's RRQ Hoshi in the lower bracket quarterfinals on Friday (17 December).

Blacklist International dominated the group stage of the M3 World Championship, sweeping Group A to earn an upper bracket berth. However, they fell victim to a 3-2 upset from North America's BloodThirstyKings that dropped them to the lower bracket.

The Filipino powerhouse then flipped the switch, starting their lower bracket run by knocking out ONIC Esports, 2-1, then sweeping Keyd Stars out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, RRQ Hoshi took the first seed of Group D in a clean sweep. The Indonesian team continued their winning streak by defeating TODAK, 3-1, in the first round of the upper bracket but were pushed down to the lower bracket quarterfinals after they were swept, 3-0, by ONIC Philippines.

In the first-ever MLBB match to have a live audience after more than a year, Blacklist International and RRQ Hoshi were pit in a best-of-five series for their tournament lives.

Game one opened with RRQ Hoshi and Blacklist International making trades as they vied for a superior position. However, the Filipino team were later able to take control of the map objectives and obliterated all Indonesian turrets.

Nevertheless, RRQ Hoshi were unwilling to give up the fight, executing one perfect defense after another against Lord sieges from Blacklist International.

With Schevenko “Skylar” David Tendean sneaking away from team fights and trying to split push, the Indonesians managed to corner the Filipinos back to their base.

But Blacklist were ready to defend, even killing four opponents in the process. And after a marathon 36-minute bloodbath, the Filipinos were finally able to break their opponents and take game one with a 26-14 kill lead.

Danerie “Wise” James Del Rosario took the MVP honours with his stellar performance on Yi Sun-Shin, ending with a 13/0/9 KDA and an 85% kill participation rate.

RRQ Hoshi started the second game in control of the map, picking off a few kills on their opponents. However, they could not lock on to the correct targets, leaving room for both Wise and Kiel "OHEB'" Calvin Soriano to scale.

At the six-minute mark, Blacklist International were ready to overpower RRQ Hoshi and started to take over the map objectives. With the Filipino team snuffing out any chances for a comeback from the Indonesians, they took the comfortable win in game two in just under 15 minutes.

Edward "EDWARD" Dapadap was named MVP of game two, with his Phoveus pick disrupting RRQ Hoshi’s composition and setting up his team members for success.

Blacklist International had a heavy-hitting line-up in the third and final game of the series, using it to great effect and hammering through RRQ Hoshi’s turrets. The Filipino team then scaled their champions comfortably, with the Indonesians unable to counter-engage.

Despite RRQ Hoshi's best efforts to mount a comeback, Blacklist International proved to be too much for them, as the Filipinos cruised to an 11-minute victory with a 13-6 kill lead to secure the 3-0 sweep. OHEB took the MVP honours with a 10/0/2 KDA and a 92% kill participation rate.

In the post-match interview, Wise mentioned that Blacklist International deeply respected RRQ Hoshi, knowing that their opponent had massive potential for a comeback. Thus, it was vital for them to keep their composure until the end.

Blacklist International will face the lower bracket quarterfinal match winner between EVOS SG and TODAK in a best-of-five series at the lower bracket semi-finals on Saturday (18 December).

Meanwhile, RRQ Hoshi bow out of the competition in 5th-6th place, taking home US$40,000.

Click here for everything you need to know about the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M3 World Championship.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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