Blacklist International completed an upset against OMEGA Esports with a statement 3-0 win, while Team Liquid PH failed the title defence campaign.
Image courtesy of MPL Philippines
Blacklist International shocked the world with their complete sweep of OMEGA Esports in the MPL Philippines Play-in. On the other hand, a five-game thriller between Aurora and Team Liquid PH satisfied every fan's need for a competitive series.
The champion of the M3 World Championship came into the tournament with a giant shadow of a doubt on their performance this season. Meanwhile, after their stellar regular season, the Omega boys were high on momentum.
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However, that shadow might disappear as they looked like the old Blacklist International in this series against OMEGA Esports. The codebreaker utterly dismantled their opponent in a 3-0 shutout to advance in the MPL Philippines Season 14 playoff.
During the first game of the series, 
Blacklist International beat 
Omega Esports in a 9-minute statement win. This form continued when they unleashed their signature, Rafaela, just like the old days when the Philippines team dominated the scene. In the last game, OMEGA started to match the Blacklist International pace. However, the M3 World Champion reminded everyone of the grit and perseverance of a winner by overturning OMEGA Esports in the late game.
If one upset didn’t satisfy your need for a competitive series, perhaps a five-game thriller will, as 
Aurora Gaming defeated 
Team Liquid PH to advance from the play-in. This was a back-and-forth series between the fourth and fifth-placed teams in the regular season. When one got the upper hand, the other just returned the favour.
Team Liquid PH looked unfocused in game one as Demonkite and Edward danced around the team. Edward’s Phoveus eliminated the movement advantage of Team Liquid PH, setting up Demonkite’s Fanny and Domeng’s Harith to finish the job. However, the second game was much tighter as they went all-out. Sanji showed why he was the MVP of ECHO as his Luo Yi defied Aurora’s expectations with a 100% Kill Participation.
If the second game was a battle of strategy, the third game was a trade of haymakers as both teams got a kill-per-minute game as they battered each other, trading kills with kills. However, one slip-up by Team Liquid PH enabled Aurora’s Suyou to dominate the field entirely, supported by Domeng’s Beatrix. It was a match point for the new kid on the block.
In the fourth game, Luo Yi was again picked by Team Liquid PH for Sanji. Aurora changed their strategy by taking a more late-game-oriented lineup. However, the strategy can be broken by the sheer dominance of Sanji as he once again completed a 100% Kill Participation using the hero. All eyes focused on the last match of the day.
Two of Sanji’s masterclasses seemed enough for Aurora to remove his Luo Yi altogether. This time, Domeng was again given his MVP performance hero, Harith. His time in the lane was a little obstructed by Bennyqt’s Nathan performance, but no one could stop Domeng’s brilliance with Harit in the teamfights. Using Yue’s crowd control with Vexana, a recipe for disaster for Team Liquid PH was completed. The defending champion was eliminated.
The MPL Philippines Season 14 playoff will continue with Fnatic ONIC Philippines meeting with Aurora and Falcons AP. Bren against Blacklist International in the upper bracket semi-finals.
