Reigning champion Blacklist International couldn’t wait to test its mettle against Indonesian powerhouse RRQ Hoshi when they collide in the semifinals of the M4 Mobile Legends World Championship on 11 January in Jakarta.
A three-time Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines champion, Blacklist wrapped up its campaign in the Group Stage at No. 2 to punch a ticket to the upper bracket Playoffs.
Then, they made short work of Brazilian squad RRQ Akira, 3-1, to book a mouthwatering semifinal duel with RRQ Hoshi — the team that they eliminated en route to winning the M3 title in Singapore last year.
But Blacklist coach Kristoffer Ed “BON CHAN” Ricaplaza said things are now different since RRQ Hoshi has an ace in its sleeve in Filipino coach Michael “Arcadia” Bocado.
“We defeated RRQ Hoshi in M3 but that was a year ago. Maybe they have already changed since they now have a Filipino coach,” BON CHAN said.
“I believe they have improved a lot. We do not know what will happen but it is still a long way before we can face them because they are in another bracket.”
Composed of its world championship roster of Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna, Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario, Kiel Calvin “OHEB” Soriano, Edward Jay “EDWARD” Dapadap, and Salid “Hadji” Imam, Blacklist was defeated twice by Falcon Esports in the Group Stage.
The three-time Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines champion, however, made short work out of Incendio Supremacy of Turkey and Burn x Team Flash of Cambodia in the best-of-one series of matches to punch a ticket to the upper bracket of the Playoffs.
Then, Blacklist toppled RRQ Akira in their first match in the Playoffs while RRQ Hoshi, overcame Malaysia’s TODAK to arrange a highly-anticipated encounter between the heavyweights in the upper bracket semifinals.
“Their (RRQ Hoshi) advantage is having many fans here,” BON CHAN said.
“But that is okay, we are expecting that. What we need to do is focus on the game and not on the fans. Expect us to be better. I believe we get better every game.”
