Queen Vee delivers an answer worthy of a crown.
Blacklist International is on the brink of making history.
The defending champions returns to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M4 World Championships Grand Finals and now have a shot of becoming the first squad ever to secure back-to-back world titles and extend the Philippine streak at the world stage started by Bren Esports in M2.
But first they had to dispatch of a vastly improved ECHO squad, which steamrolled over Blacklist in Game 1 in Friday's upper bracket finals. Tristan "YAWI" Cabrera even used Blacklist's M3 champion skin for Estes against the Agents themselves, only to lose that Game 2 and a very tight Game 5.
Were opponents underestimating the support hero, which is a vital cog in Blacklist's Ultimate Bonding Experience strategy?
Captain Jonmar "OhMyV33NUS" Villaluna, who chose not to use her signature hero's black-and-silver skin in M4, says opponents such as RRQ and ECHO had to pick their poison. And instead of banning Vee's Estes, ECHO decided to ban Salic "Hadji" Alauya Imam's Pharsa and Edward "EDWARD" Jay Dapadap's Benedetta instead.
"Maybe its the reason why they lost again," OhMyV33NUS said after the match.
"Actually, the moment we used Estes versus RRQ Akira, we already expected teams will ban it. We're actually prepared for it," she added during the post-match interview.
Asked which hero they would pick for the champion skin should they win again, OhMyV33NUS first admitted they have not discussed the matter since they have yet to actually secure the M4 title.
"I think the most profitable hero will be chosen. It depends on them, they know the data who is the most used and the most profitable," OhMyV33NUS said, drawing laughter from the press.
"We actually haven't talked about it yet," she said. "Another Estes!"
The M3 Estes skin, which features Blacklist's black and silver colors and OhMyV33NUS' signature pose, was the subject of controversy after the Filipino squad won the world title. OhMyV33NUS shared in a Facebook livestream that they were asked to pick a hero for the custom skin and unanimously chose Estes. She revealed that they were then told to give three choices. Game developer Moonton apparently did not select the support hero, receiving backlash from fans and prompting a #WeWantEstes trend on Twitter.
Moonton heeded the call. "To our beloved gamers, Estes is the chosen champion M3 skin. We have heard your voices, and we will proceed with Blacklist International's choice," the game developer said in an MPL Philippines Facebook post.
Coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza though is tempering everyone's expectations for the Grand Finals. After all, they too had to go through the grueling lower bracket before winning M3 against fellow Pinoy squad ONIC Philippines.
"The good thing about being in the lower bracket is you will learn a lot of things," he said. "That made us strong when we reached the Finals."
They do wish for another all-Filipino ending though.
"You came prepared and fought your hearts out. Just like the MPL-PH finals, our battle was epic and we wouldn’t have it any other way," Blacklist International posted. "GGWP ECHO, we get the feeling we’ll see you again soon 🖤"