Blacklist International team captain Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna vows to bounce back stronger than ever after they failed to capture the M4 Mobile Legends World Championship last week in Jakarta.
Backed by real-life partner Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario as well as Kiel Calvin “OHEB” Soriano, Edward Jay “EDWARD” Dapadap and Salic “Hadji” Imam, OhMyV33nus was sent crashing after ECHO dealt Blacklist a painful 0-4 sweep in the grand finals of the M-Series tournament.
It was such a bitter setback for the reigning Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines champions as they lost their chance to defend their crown and gain the lion’s share in the P43.5 million prize pool.
“It is just now that it is starting to sink in all that has happened and this is a feeling that is so familiar to me,” the 28-year-old roamer from Rizal said in a lengthy social media post.
“That feeling of wanting to cry but there are no tears left coming out. Maybe because we have been at this point many times in the past, and since we have been here many times before, it is almost like I am immune to it already.”
It can be remembered that the V33Wise duo suffered the same fate back in MPL Philippines Seasons 4 and 5 when they used to play for ONIC PH.
The duo made it to the finals but was denied the championship twice.
Now, Blacklist had become the only team in MPL Philippines history to win the championship thrice and was the defending world champion in the M4 Mobile Legends World Championship.
Blacklist finished second in the Group Stage only losing once to Burmese powerhouse Falcon Esports to sit in the upper bracket of the tournament Playoffs.
In the upper bracket, Blacklist wreaked havoc as it defeated all opponents in its path like RRQ Akira, local favorite RRQ Hoshi, and even ECHO in the upper bracket finals.
But in the end, their seemingly unstoppable run in the Playoffs came to a screeching halt when they failed to muster a single win against MPL Season 10 runner-up ECHO.
Still, OhMyV33nus vowed that it is not the end of Blacklist’s journey.
“I still feel blessed because of the number of people who supported us not only in the Philippines but the whole world, especially those who went here to Indonesia and heckled with the fans of other teams,” OhMyV33nus, who was branded as the “Queen” for her Mobile Legends superiority, said.
“I am super thankful to all the people who did not stop and still continue to believe in our abilities. Grace under defeat. With this, I will make sure that we will come back stronger than ever. Again, this is still not the last of us.”
