Blacklist reaches MPL PH S8 lower bracket finals with sweep of NXPE

Blacklist International thoroughly dominated Nexplay Evos from start to finish en route to a 3-0 sweep and book their spot in the lower bracket finals of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines Season 8 playoffs on Saturday.

Fresh off a deflating 3-1 loss to Omega Esports a day prior, Blacklist showed no rust in welcoming the return of Kiel “OHEB” Soriano as they completely dismantled NXPE to keep their hopes of a back-to-back championship alive.

Both teams had their moments in the opening game but Blacklist quickly took the upper hand after they scored a 3-0 wipe in a 12th minute midlane clash that suddenly concluded the match, 1-0.

OHEB had a strong return from suspension with a superb 4-1-9 KDA. 

Despite registering only 1 kill for 16 mins compared to NXPE's 4, Blacklist took control of Game 2 from the midgame and used a 17th minute lord fight to force a 2-1 exchange and take Game 2 in one fell swoop, 2-0.

The defending champs relied once again on their superior macro strategies in Game 3 to dictate the tempo of the match, taking the close out win in the 19th minute after an John Paul “H2wo” Salonga (Lancelot) failed lord steal.

Blacklist now awaits the loser of the upper bracket showdown between Onic Philippines and Omega.

—JMB, GMA News