MANILA, Philippines – Blacklist International has earned the moniker “Indonesian slayer” after eliminating RRQ Hoshi to advance to the lower bracket semifinals of the Mobile Legends M3 World Championships on Friday, December 17.

The same team to give Indonesian giants Onic Esports the boot, Blacklist sent RRQ packing with a 3-0 drubbing in their best-of-five affair to secure at least a top-four finish in the 16-team field.

Game 1 lived up to the hype of two powerhouse teams colliding as RRQ survived three Lord pushes from Blacklist and extended the match to beyond 30 minutes behind the swift wave clearing capabilities of Albert “Alberttt” Neilsen Iskandar (Nathan) and Deden “Clayyy” Muhammad Nurhasan (Lylia).

But a clutch kill by Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario (Yi Sun-Shin) on Alberttt paved the way for Blacklist to wipe out RRQ and close out the win in 35 minutes.

Wise led Blacklist in the series opener with a flawless line of 13 kills and 9 assists against 0 deaths.

Disheartened by its sorry Game 1 defeat, RRQ unraveled for the rest of the series as Blacklist made quick work of the Indonesians, clinching Game 2 in under 15 minutes and taking Game 3 in just 11 minutes to complete the sweep.

Kiel “Oheb” Soriano shone the brightest in the last two games after tallying 5 kills and 6 assists against 0 deaths on Nathan in Game 2 and putting up 10 kills and 2 assists against 0 deaths on Clint in Game 3.

Already guaranteed $55,000 (around P2.7 million), Blacklist returns to action on Saturday, December 18, to tangle with the winner between Malaysia’s Today and Singapore’s EVOS SG.

Meanwhile, it is already the end of the road for RRQ, which will take home $40,000 (around P2 million) for finishing at fifth-to-sixth places.

It was a disappointing exit for RRQ as it won all of its first four series of the tournament only to lose its last two assignments against the two Filipino representatives in Singapore.

RRQ also suffered a 3-0 beating at the hands of Onic Philippines in their upper bracket semifinals clash last Wednesday.

Onic Philippines faces North America’s BloodThirstyKings in the upper bracket finals on Sunday, December 19, with the winner advancing to the grand finals. – Rappler.com