Blacklist International suffered two consecutive defeats at the hands of Myanmarâs powerhouse team, Falcon Esports in the M4 World Championship group stage. The defending champion started strong in its opening match until Falcon Esports broke its momentum, resulting in a three-way tiebreaker match. Blacklist International managed to secure a second-place spot in the tiebreaker ranking and secured an upper-bracket slot. Despite the shaky group stage performance, the defending champions remain calm and collected and shall use the experience to improve their tactics moving forward into the stage.
Blacklist International’s immediate priority was the upper bracket
Despite Blacklist International’s surprising back-to-back defeat against Falcon Esports, the team is not worried about its journey in the playoffs.Â
Through a post-match press conference, the squad shared its thoughts on its unexpected defeat against the Myanmar powerhouse squad. For the teamâs jungler Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario and head coach, Kristoffer âBON CHANâ Ricaplaza, all that mattered was for Blacklist International to secure an upper bracket slot.
“Being in the group stage, I think your number 1 priority is the upper bracket, so I don’t care because I think we are in the same [bracket],” said Wise.
âI donât really mind losing to Falcon as long as we secure the upper bracket,â said coach BON CHAN.
According to the teamâs iconic roamer support Johnmar âOhMyV33NUSâ Villaluna, the losses will help them get an idea of what to expect when the next stage of the tournament starts.
âJust like coach and Wise said, as long as we are in the upper bracket we are super good and I think the two losses will contribute a lot of experience moving towards the upper bracket,â said the fan-favorite roamer.
Blacklist International is set to face RRQ Akira on 8th January. It will be interesting to see how the defending champion performs in the upper bracket playoffs of the M4 World Championship.
