Yesterday, the first day of Group Stage Matches in MSC 2021 finally started and there are so many teams that perform very well in their fights. And because I am a Filipino of course I am happy that Execration and Blacklist International won with both 2-0 standings. But the most interesting match up that I saw yesterday was the fight between Blacklist International vs Bigetron Alpha.
Blacklist is the MPL Philippines Season 7 Champion while Bigetron Alpha is the MPL Indonesia 1st Runner Up. Both team came from the strongest country in terms of Mobile Legends Tournaments. This fight was expected to be a close fight but how can Blacklist dominate this matchup with the score of 2-0. Here's my analysis on how can Blacklist dominate this tournament.
My Analysis
Game 1
Game number 1 is unfairly dominated by Blacklist International. I don't know why Bigetron picks Kimmy that they already know there is an Aldous with Rafaela. Maybe they are trying to experiment here but I think they forgot that their opponent is a champion.
The game started really bad for Bigetron when Eve stole the Purple Buff against Ling. For those who are confused why he didn't use Retribution to secure the buff. He already used it on Lithowanderer. With enough information given on Blacklist side, Rafaela and Eve did a good job at stealing it. Ling without purple is as good as useless because he can't be aggressive in early game. Bigetron should snowball early because their opponent is an Aldous that gets stronger as the game dragged to the late game.
I also think Kimmy and Yu Zhong pick didn't made a good job at utilizing their heroes. Blacklist is known to be the team with the strongest EXP Lane. Edward with his Paquito literally singlehandedly destroy Bigetron. Without proper tank, Edward took the front line and face the enemy team alone. He got mastery in this Paquito that can even solo kill Yu Zhong and Kimmy. This is actually scary because 5 ban is not enough to deny all of the heroes of Blacklist International. Their hero pool is just so wide.
Game 1 is a game for Blacklist International. I think Bigetron lose with the draft because it is obvious that Blacklist heroes are all comfort pick while they still questionably picked Kimmy. I will give kudos to Wise and his Aldous because since MPL his Aldous is still 100% win rate with their games.
Game 2
I will give my praises to Bigetron in this game even though they still lose. They made a big adjustment on their drafts and gameplay that even gave a hard time to Blacklist International.
Kaja pick somewhat counter the strategy of Blacklist International. Pick off and Disperse tactic is a great answer to full teamfight strategy of Blacklist. If you've noticed on Game 2. Whenever they can picked off using Kaja, they just retreat and avoid clashes because they all know that they cannot beat Blacklist with 5 v 5 clash given that they have healer lineup.
The early game is really a game against Blacklist especially that tower dive of Edward again 4 members of Bigetron Alpha. He failed to kill Lancelot but because of that engagement, his team didn't have a choice but to forcibly dive the tower and clean what he did. They still manage to kill the enemy jungler but with the cost of 4 members in their team.
But even with this lead, I am still sure that Blacklist will win at that fight. Estes and Rafaela combination is actually the most OP combo right now and everyone didn't know about that. Of course they will not do anything good at early game but once mid game started and they got their items, this combo is unkillable. Bigetron did a great job at pick offs but they still have to force clashes in taking Lords and Turtles. This is where their lineup backfired because they don't have any means of stopping Aldous. Their only crowd control was Kaja and Wise is really wise because he will just engage when he knows that Kaja already used his ultimate. This is the reason why Blacklist managed to turn around the game despite of the rough start.
Bigetron Alpha almost made a strategy that can beat Blacklist International. Unfortunately Blacklist meta is much more superior. They are the strongest team when it comes to teamfight perfect for Lord and Turtle Takes.
This is just the first day but the fight is really heating up. I'm excited because there is still lots of strong teams right now especially RSG MY and EVOS Legends that I'm sure will make things difficult for the Philippines team.