JAKARTA, Indonesia – Blacklist International has done it again.

The reigning champions moved on the cusp of defending its crown in the M4 World Championship after turning back Echo, 3-2, in an all-Filipino upper bracket finals at the Tennis Indoor Senayan here on Friday, January 13.

Salic “Hadji” Imam and Edward “Edward” Dapadap rose to the occasion as Blacklist International overcame a 1-2 deficit in the best-of-five duel to become the first team to reach the grand finals.

Hadji turned in a flawless performance of 8 kills and 9 assists against 0 deaths on Valentina in their Game 4 win that knotted the score at 2-2, while Edward put up 3 kills and 8 assists against 0 deaths on Gloo in the decider.

Blacklist International finished Game 5 in just 12:30 minutes, overcoming a rough start to the series that saw it get demolished by Echo in Game 1 with a whopping kill difference of 21-2.

“We’re happy that we get a chance to become back-to-back champions. We’re going to be the first one to accomplish that,” said Hadji in Filipino.

The three-time Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines titlist will get a one-day break before it returns to action in the grand finals on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Echo will go up against the winner between Indonesian squads Onic Esports and RRQ Hoshi in the lower bracket finals on Saturday. – Rappler.com