Blacklist International is set to represent the Philippines at a Mobile Legends event in the Southeast Asian Games 2022.
The team became the Sibol Mobile Legends: Bang Bang representatives after defeating Nexplay EVOS, also a local esports team, at the recently concluded 2022 Sibol Mobile Legends National Team Selection last Sunday, January 30.
Blacklist defeated Nexplay in a score of 4-1 at the grand finals event.
The team comprises the following:
- Team captain Johnmar ‘OhMyV33nus’ Villaluna
- Danerie James ‘Wise’ Del Rosario
- Kyle Dominic ‘Dominic’ Soto
- Lee Howard ‘Owl’ Gonzales
- Salic ‘Hadji’ Imam
Two of their members, however, were barred from competing because they did not meet the 18-year-old age limit.
These are Kiel “OHEB” Soriano, who won the most valuable player award at the world championships, and Edward “EDWARD” Jay Dapadap.
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Blacklist later posted a victory group photo on Facebook.
The group captioned it with a Philippine flag and the hashtag #BreakTheCode: “We are your 2022 SEA Games PH rep.”
The hashtags #BreaktheCode and “Blacklist International” also trended on Twitter as fans congratulated their favorite team.
“PH representative! We are still in the Blacklist International domination era #BreakTheCode,” a Twitter user said.
“BEST TEAM GOING TO REPRESENT PH! #BreakTheCode” another user tweeted.
Nexplay later joined in the chorus of support for the Philippine representative.
They commented on Blacklist’s group photo.
“Blacklist International Congratulations champs! You really are something special. Looking forward to another Grand Finals bout against you, soon. For now, go and get that gold medal for the Philippines! Let’s go!” Nexplay said with a heart emoji.
In a separate post on Facebook, Nexplay also showed sportsmanship to the new Philippine representative.
“GGWP, Blacklist International. Laban Pilipinas!” part of their post read.
They also patted each other’s backs for their hard work during the Sibol qualifiers.
Furthermore, the teams also thanked their fans for their continued support.
“Congratulations to our team for making it this far. You all played with your hearts out like a champion and we are more than proud of you! Thank you to all those who supported our SIBOL journey. Let us say this one last time…Nexplay Evos, lakad matatag!” Nexplay said.
Blacklist owners Tryke Gutierrez and Alodia Gosiengfiao also shared congratulatory messages to the new national esports team via their respective social media pages.
Sibol is the Philippines’ own esports selection squad that is powered by SMART Communications Inc.
It has so far fielded players in Dota 2 and StarCraft II in the last SEA Games edition.
Meanwhile, the 31st SEA Games is scheduled to take place this May in Hanoi, Vietnam.
