MANILA - Blacklist International will be able to defend their world title after securing a slot to the M4 world championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.

This, after entering the grand finals of the MPL Season 10 playoffs, defeating Echo Philippines in the upper bracket, (score).

Blacklist first won the world title in December 2021 in Singapore, when it defeated fellow Pinoys Onic Philippines in a 4-0 sweep.

Blacklist started things off with a surprise Fredrinn pick for Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario. Echo had the early go-ahead, after a triple kill by Karl "KarlTzy" Nepomuceno.

Echo had better control of the objectives in the first 15 minutes. But a lord take in the 21st minute swung the momentum in favor of Blacklist.

As Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna (Diggie) let out a "Time's Journey" which bursted down Tristan "Yawi" Cabrera (Faramis) and Alston "Sanji" Pabico (Valentina), Blacklist went forward with the lord take and the death push.

With Wise wielding the Guinevere, Blacklist reached match point, as Kiel "Oheb" Soriano zeroed in on pushing down the sidelane turrets.

They went on to take the game cleanly to reach match point, and banked on another clean game to secure the series.

They are the first MPL Philippines team to qualify for the tournament, and the second team with a Filipino overall after Cambodia’s Burn x Flash, led by head coach John Michael “Zico” Dizon, secured their slots on October 1.

Echo will have a longer route to the last world championship slot for the Philippines as it faces the losing team between Bren Esports and RSG Philippines.