Time to break a new code.
It’s officially here. Blacklist International has finally overhauled the majority of their Mobile Legends lineup, as promised following their defeat against Echo Philippines in the grand finals of the fourth Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship (M4) in Jakarta last month.
The queen and the king – Johnmar “OHMYV33NUS” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” James Del Rosario – are back in the starting lineup after previously being rumored to be taking a break for this season. Additionally, “Edward” Jay Dapada stays as the regular exp laner, while “Renejay” Barcase, who played as a substitute last year, will now play as a starter.
Coming in as fresh bloods are Kenneth “Yue” Tadeo (mid lane) and “Super Red” Bordeos (gold lane). The youngsters, who best known from the amateur competitive scene in the Philippines, will replace Salic “Hadji” Alauya Imam and Kiel “Oheb” Soriano, who are reportedly taking a break this season.
And finally, the subs from the last year, Dexter “Dex Star” Cruz Alaba, has been promoted to analyst, Carlo “Archer”Perez will take up the role of team manager, and Aniel “Master the Basics” Jiandani has stepped up as the head coach to replace Bon Chan, who is also taking a break from competitive season.
Given the significant contributions of Hadji, Oheb, and Bon Chan in the MPL Philippines, M3, and M4, this roster means a major bet for Blacklist International in the forthcoming MPL Season 11, which will start on February 17. However, the CEO of Blacklist, Tryke Gutierrez, said that management had discussed with the captain after M4 and agreed to try something fresh this year.
Blacklist will have their hands full trying to retain their MPL Philippines trophy against the big names such as Bren Esports, Omega Esports, and the M4 champion, Echo. But in the meantime, they have a lot to work on to retain the service of their superstar, Oheb, who has been linked with several big names from Philippines and Indonesia.
