Blacklist International stuns top seed Bren, advances to upper bracket finals

Blacklist International displayed its old form, pulling off a 3-1 stunner against top seed Bren Esports in the upper bracket semifinals of the MPL Philippines Season 11 on Friday at the SMX Convention Center.

The reigning MPL champions will now move on to the upper bracket finals, where the Codebreakers will face the winner between Echo and RSG Slate Philippines. Bren, meanwhile, dropped to the lower bracket and will face the loser of the other semis.

Up 2-0, Blacklist was denied a series sweep as Bren made quick work of the former in Game Three with a 9-2 victory in just 14 minutes of duel in the Land of Dawn.

Veteran midlaner Angelo "Pheww" Arcangel unleashed a perfect 4-0-2 KDA line on his joy to put Bren on the board. But Blacklist didn't allow Bren to get closer to a reverse sweep as the M3 world champions thrashed Bren in 15 minutes, 14-7, with Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna showing the prowess of their signature pick Estes.

The win also put Blacklist in a much more comfortable position to book one of the two tickets to the MSC happening this June in Cambodia.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News