Defending champs Blacklist open M4 campaign with statement win over Turkish foes

MANILA, Philippines — Blacklist International dominated their opening game of the M4 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia beating Turkey's Incendio Supremacy, 13-10, as they began their campaign for a back-to-back world crown on Sunday.

With the risky best-of-one series format in the group stages, Blacklist International's draft maximized on their strengths with Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario using Valentina and Edward “Edward” Jay Dapadap on his signature Benedetta even as Incendio Supremacy chose Atlas and Yu Zhong, heroes that the team struggled with during their IESF run.

The aggressive gameplay on the side of Incendio Supremacy saw them take the lead around the 7th minute of the match after a team fight saw three heroes down on the side of the Philippine champions. 

But the Agents managed to turn the tides around and secure a wipeout at the 12th minute, essentially sealing their win.

Their New Year's day win was not without sacrifices, though, as the team had been in Indonesia since mid-December, essentially missing celebrating the holidays with their respective families.

"It's all about passion talaga. If your dream is to be a champion, if you have a big goal, you have to sacrifice," said Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna.

Blacklist's next foes will be Filipino-coached Burn X Flash of Cambodia on January 3 at 6 p.m. (Manila time) and will wrap up their Group Stage campaign against another team with a Filipino coach, Falcon Esports of Myanmar on the same day at 8 p.m. (Manila time).

The other Filipino bet, Echo, opens their bid at M4 against Indonesia's RRQ Hoshi on Monday.