Blacklist International completed an improbable comeback and shocked Execration to claim the Season 7 championship of the Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines (MPL PH) on Sunday, May 30.
Its back pressed against the wall after getting buried in a 1-3 hole, Blacklist won three straight games to frustrate Execration in their best-of-seven grand finals and clinch its maiden MPL PH title in team history.
Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" del Rosario, who were acquired by Blacklist in the offseason, led the way in the win as they captured their first MPL PH crown after two finals heartbreaks.
Wise and OhMyV33nus helped their original MPL PH team Onic Philippines reach the grand finals in Seasons 4 and 5 but fell short of the championship in both occasions.
Onic Philippines let go of OhMyV33nus and Wise following a fourth-place finish in Season 6.
Wise earned MVP honors in the do-or-die Game 7 after tallying 4 kills and 12 assists against 2 deaths with a surprising Aldous pick as Blacklist took home the top prize of $25,000 (around P1.2 million).
Blacklist dominated the economy battle in Game 7 with a 10,000 gold lead at the 14th minute after securing the Lord for the potential final push.
Duane "Kelra" Pillas, however, had other plans as he pulled off a rare savage (five straight kills) with Lunox to keep Execration alive.
But what Kelra did was only buy Execration time as Blacklist returned the favor with its own wipeout to end Game 7 at the 18:18 mark.
Sticking with his comfort hero Estes, OhMyV33nus backstopped Wise in Game 7 with a kill-death-assist line of 1/1/15.
Kiel "Oheb" Soriano (Harith) had a 9/2/8 KDA, while Edward "Edward" Dapadap" put up a 2/2/8 KDA as they won their first title along with sixth man Dexter "Dex Star" Alaba and coach Kristoffer "Bon Chan" Ricaplaza.
A champion with Cignal Ultra in Season 2, Jayson "Eson" Gerardo found himself at the top of MPL PH again after putting up 3 kills and 14 assists against 2 deaths with Rafaela in Game 7.
Execration seemed to have cracked the Blacklist code as it seized a 3-1 series lead by denying OhMyV33nus his trademark picks – only a win away from giving veteran Billy "Z4pnu" Alfonso his breakthrough championship.
Z4pnu has been with Execration since the inaugural season and has taken the back seat as a sixth man.
But Blacklist, which won 13 of its 14 matches prior to the grand finals, did not crumble under pressure and banked on its "ultimate bonding experience" strategy to pull through.
Despite the finals loss, Execration still raked in $13,000 (around P620,000).