BloodThirstyKings Secures Huge Upset Over Blacklist International in M3 World Championship Playoffs
Cover-Credits:
The first day of the M3 World Championship playoffs stage kicked off with a surprising occurrence as the North American (NA) team BloodThirstyKings (BTK) managed to take down the fan-favorite Philippines team, Blacklist International. Following a short break from the group stage, the world championship opened up the playoffs stage with a match against the NA underdog team, BTK, and the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) PH Season 8 champions, Blacklist International. The matchup spanned across five long and intense rounds with both teams taking turns at clutching victories to eventually end with a 3-2 match score in favor of BTK.
The underdog team BTK takes down one of the best SEA teams in the playoffs of the M3 World Championship
Most fans would argue that the NA region is lacking a lot of experience in the Mobile Legends esports scene. The region’s representative, BTK, participated in the world championship without a coach, an analyst, or even a manager. All the team had is a dream and determination to compete in the biggest Mobile Legends esports event.
However, the team managed to turn heads after they successfully defeated one of the strongest teams in South East Asia (SEA), Blacklist International. The matchup did not play smoothly for both teams which eventually resulted in a tie-breaker match.
Both teams were desperate to take the win with Blacklist International’s Kiel "Oheb" Soriano taking his signature Alice while Danerie "Wise" Rosario picked his iconic Aldous. BTK’s Michael “MobaZane” Cosgun, on the other hand, picked his best hero Yi Sun-shin.
The frustration of both teams could be seen by fans throughout the match. However, with MobaZane leading the charge as the team captain, BTK clutched the fifth and final deciding match to achieve one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.
During the final match, Blacklist International was struggling to maintain its momentum as BTK started consistently securing objectives. This gave the NA team more than enough advantage to hold back Wise’s Aldous from reaching its power spike. At the 12-minute mark, BTK did not hesitate to end the match after a huge misplay by Blacklist International, resulting in a wipeout.
BTK MobaZane felt ecstatic after upsetting Blacklist International
Through a post-match interview, the team captain of BTK, MobaZane, expressed his disbelief after achieving a win against one of the top-tier teams in the M3 World Championship.
“(My throat) It’s very sore right now because the emotions were so high during the tournament, but we’re really happy because even without a coach or analyst we were able to ‘break the code’ I guess,” stated MobaZane.
The team captain also explained what made his team strong. According to him, his team’s synergy and 2 years’ worth of bonding experience are what made them quite formidable.
“Just the teamwork and synergy even though we’ve had pretty much this main roster. We’ve been playing together for two years and the main roster has never really changed,” stated MobaZane. “So, it’s just the synergy that none of these teams can really match here in my opinion.”
It will be interesting to see how this underdog team of BloodThirstyKings performs moving forwards in the upcoming matches of the M3 World Championship.
Check out AFK Gaming's event hub for the M3 World Championship to stay up to date on live scores, schedules, rosters, results, and more.
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