Kiel “Oheb” Soriano returned from suspension and powered Blacklist International to the lower bracket finals of the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines Season 8 playoffs on Saturday, October 23.

Defending champion Blacklist flaunted its true power with Oheb back on board as it swept Nexplay EVOS, 3-0, in their best-of-five series to keep its title-retention campaign running.

Suspended for two matches for flashing his middle finger after a regular-season match, Oheb made up for lost time with a string of sterling performances, capped by a dominant Game 3 outing on Nathan.

Oheb tallied 5 kills and 1 assist against 3 deaths, with two of those kills coming in the final push as he eliminated Renejay “Renejay” Bacarse (Paquito) and John Paul “H2wo” Salonga (Lancelot).

Nexplay pinned its hopes of a comeback on securing the Lord but Oheb pulled off the last hit on the major objective.

Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario (Aldous) had 3 kills and 6 assists against 1 death for Blacklist, while Edward “Edward” Dapadap (Thamuz) chalked up 2 kills and 5 assists against 0 deaths.

Ending the regular season as the top seed, Blacklist found itself dropped to the lower bracket after a stunning 3-1 defeat to Omega Esports, a series where Oheb sat out.

But Blacklist is now just one series win away from the grand finals as it faces the loser of the upper bracket finals between Omega and Onic Philippines in the lower bracket finals.

Meanwhile, Nexplay settled for fourth place for its highest finish in MPL Philippines history.

Nexplay suffered first-round exits in Seasons 6 and 7. – Rappler.com