Blacklist International survives home favorite RRQ Hoshi

JAKARTA — Defending world champions Blacklist International survived Indonesian powerhouse RRQ Hoshi, under the leadership of Filipino coach Michael "Arcadia" Bocado, 3-2, in the M4 World Champions knockout stages at the Indoor Stadium Senayan here.

In front of an estimated crowd of over 1000 at the watch party at the Tennis Outdoor Stadium plus an estimated 2,300 attendees at the Main Hall, a tight Game One saw both teams trading leads with the Agents moving ahead after taking the first lord. But RRQ managed to turn the tides with signature kills, especially on gold laner Kiel "Oheb" Soriano, to take the first game.

Soriano answered back with a dominating Game Two outing, taking the game MVP with nine kills, two deaths and six assists, which denied RRQ from taking any objectives and finishing the game at just 12 minutes and 37 seconds.

Game Three saw Wise rule the map with an 81% kill participation, leading the agents to a 26-10 victory and bringing them to match point. But RRQ started Game Four with aggressive kills, securing the first kill on EXP laner Edward “Edward” Jay Dapadap and controlling the tempo of the entire 17 minute game.

The decider started in RRQ's favor but Blacklist International broke the code yet again, taking the 24 minute game with a 11-9 score. The win assured the defending champions at least a third place finish.

Coach Kristoffer "Bonchan" Ricaplaza admitted in the post-match interview that RRQ has improved a lot since the agents swept them in the lower brackets 3-0 during the M3 World Championships.

"It's because of the help of their new coach which is Coach Arcadia. You see what happens with a Filipino coach. You saw what happened with ONIC. These Filipino coaches share our winning culture," said Ricaplaza.

Blacklist International advances to the upper bracket finals and awaits the winner of the ECHO and ONIC Esports clash happening Friday at 7 p.m. (Manila time).