Blacklist International win a 2-1 thriller over RSG

Another Filipino team is advancing to the second round.

New-look Blacklist International from the Philippines defeated Singapore’s RSG to kick off the second day of the ONE Esports MPL Invitational in an intense back-and-forth series.

Game One

RSG emerged as the victors of the first game after a clutch 3v5 teamfight late in the game that saw LY4’s Brody kill four members of Blacklist International by himself near the lord area.

RSG was already dominating the early parts of the game against Blacklist who opted for unorthodox picks with Miya and Diggie. RSG took control of the map early and capitalized on Blacklist’s mistakes.

At the 11th minute mark, the lead widened further as RSG captured a Lord buff but somehow Blacklist International managed to fend off RSG in all lanes.

Blacklist had a chance to come back in the 15th minute of the game after killing two members of RSG near their base turret and immediately went for the remaining three members of the Singaporean squad and tried to get Lord at the same time.

However, LY4 and the remaining two members pulled off the impossible after LY4 got a maniac on four Blacklist International members while Sana stole the Lord buff from Oheb’s Miya. The wipeout allowed RSG to push into the base of Blacklist International and win the game.

Game Two

It was a different story in game two as Blacklist International dominated RSG all throughout the game thanks to Ohmyv33nus’ Estes healing prowess in team fights and Wise’s Yi-Sun Shin killing capabilities.

Blacklist got off to a great start with three quick kills in under three minutes. RSG had a very difficult time creating space and taking objectives. At the 10-minutes mark, Blacklist had taken complete control of the map with a 10-2 record.

Blacklist didn’t waste any more time after taking the Lord buff and used it to push aggressively in the mid lane. The Pharsa, YSS, and Estes combo of Blacklist International was too much for RSG to handle as the Filipino team pushed even further into RSG’s base and killed all five defenders. With this, Blacklist evened up the series with a 1-1 outing.

Game Three

The deciding game was a nail-biter, as both teams pounded it out till the very end.

The first few minutes was a stalemate with both teams getting their objectives and kills figured out. However, RSG used their teamfight-centric lineup to pick off the side lanes of Blacklist International. This stopped OHEB’s Hayabusa from farming efficiently, forcing him to have a hard time in team fights.

RSG then went on to get the Lord buff on the 12th-minute mark after killing off three members of Blacklist. The Filipino team successfully fended off RSG’s siege and picked up two kills defending their base turrets.

Blacklist then counter-pushed in the mid lane and even went as far as wiping out every RSG player in the 16th-minute mark. The miracle teamfight allowed Blacklist to push RSG in all lanes and eventually win the series 2-1.

Blacklist International will now face Geek Fam in tomorrow’s matches for a spot in the Quarterfinals against Todak.