It may have taken the longer route, but Blacklist International is back in the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines grand finals.

The defending champions advanced to the Season 8 finale after eliminating rival Omega Esports with a 3-1 victory in their best-of-five lower bracket finals on Sunday, October 24.

Relegated to the lower bracket by Omega, Blacklist exacted revenge as it set up a title showdown with Onic Philippines later on Sunday.

Omega was primed to force a rubber match after boasting of a significant advantage in kills, gold earned, and turrets destroyed in Game 4 before a miscalculated clash opened the comeback door for Blacklist.

Forcing the issue on the middle lane at the 12th minute, Omega picked off Blacklist star Kiel “Oheb” Soriano (Nathan) but at the expense of all of its five players getting killed.

That marked the downfall of Omega as Blacklist secured the next two Luminous Lords and pulled off another wipeout behind Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario (Yi Sun-Shin) to end Game 4 in 20 minutes.

Wise chalked up 8 kills and 9 assists against 3 deaths in Game 4, while Edward “Edward” Dapadap tallied 5 kills and 10 assists against 3 deaths in a masterful performance on Thamuz.

Oheb, who sat out their upper bracket loss to Omega due to a suspension, made his presence felt for Blacklist in the clincher with 4 kills and 6 assists against 4 deaths.

Blacklist eyed a 3-0 romp after wrapping up Games 1 and 2 in under 15 minutes but Omega avoided a sweep with a come-from-behind win in Game 3 thanks to Patrick “E2max” Caidic.

E2max earned MVP honors in Game 3 with 3 kills and 7 assists against 3 deaths on a support Phoveus.

Wise and Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna will face their former squad Onic as Blacklist seeks to become the second team in MPL Philippines history to bag back-to-back titles.

Onic, meanwhile, aims to finally capture the elusive MPL Philippines championship after settling for runner-up finishes to Sunsparks in Seasons 4 and 5. – Rappler.com