Echo Philippines pulled off a clean sweep against reigning Philippines champions Blacklist International in the grand finals of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Philippines (MPL PH) Season 11 yesterday. The best-of-seven match was played in front of a live crowd at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.
The Echo team demonstrated superior consistency and mechanics, achieving their second consecutive victory over Blacklist International in just five months. The grand finals rematch between the two teams was highly anticipated, with fans and experts alike predicting a fierce battle. However, Echo dominated from the beginning and never allowed Blacklist International to catch up.
History repeats itself
Echo’s Karl “KarlTzy” Nepomuceno and Frederic “Bennyqt” Gonzales opened game 1 with extraordinary performances, aggressively pushing Blacklist International from the early game and showing no mercy. In just eight minutes, Echo achieved 11 kills and forced Blacklist International to play more defensively. Echo won every objective and by 14 minutes, won game 1 by a score of 15-4.
In game 2, Blacklist International gained the upper hand with Danerie “Wise” Rosario’s Baxia, but their advantage only lasted seven minutes as Echo’s Sanford “Sanford” Marin Vinuya was able to strike back after completing the core items.
Echo’s furious performance carried over into the third and fourth games, with KarlTzy and Sanford making themselves the highlight of the final game. In the end, Echo won by a landslide victory of 4-0, marking their second 4-0 win over Blacklist International in the last five months.
The competition between the two teams will continue in the 2023 MLBB Southeast Asia Cup in Cambodia on June 10, 2023. This will be a big deal for Echo, who have a chance to win their first treble in 2023.
Prior to the grand finals, there’s an interesting backstory between Echo Philippines and Blacklist International, with Blacklist seeking to avenge their defeat by Echo in the M4 grand final in Jakarta. However, Echo had their own motivation after being defeated by Blacklist in the MPL PH S10 grand finals. Despite Blacklist’s struggles in the regular season, the grand finals were expected to be a hard-fought battle, but Echo’s dominant performance proved otherwise.
The grand finals victory is a significant achievement for Echo, cementing their reputation as a force to be reckoned with in the MPL PH and the esports arena in general. The competition between Echo and Blacklist International continues to be one of the most highly anticipated events in the esports calendar, with fans eagerly following the progress of their favorite teams.
