Blacklist International Aims to Establish a New Identity this MPL PH Season 9

As Blacklist International prepares to defend its championship title in the upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League (MPL) Philippines (PH) Season 9, it also has other plans in mind that fans can look forward to. With the unavailability of its star players Jonmar “OhmyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie “Wise” Del Rosario, the team is looking to reform its identity by building a new strategy that utilizes its new recruit Kent “Kevier” Lopez. Through one of the vlogs posted by the co-owner of Blacklist International, Tryke Gutierrez, the team's coaches revealed that it is looking to shift from the Ultimate Bonding Experience (UBE) strategy and delivering an entirely new flavor to the table.

Blacklist International prepares a new kind of UBE Strategy for the MPL PH Season 9

In the vlog, Tryke had a discussion with Blacklist International's head coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza, and his assistant coach Aniel “Master the Basics” (MTB) Jiandani. According to the two coaches, training has been a bit hard with the many adjustments the team needs due to the unavailability of OhmyV33nus and Wise.

“It’s hard, but I still believe that we can do it. Maybe on the first week or two weeks (we’ll struggle) but we’ll get to the playoffs, I’m sure of it,” stated Bon Chan. The head coach also assured fans that the team will definitely qualify for this year’s Mobile Legends Southeast Asia Championship (MSC) 2022.

Tryke echoed that he understands the struggle as he has seen the team firsthand. He further explained why the team is currently having a hard time preparing for the upcoming MPL PH Season 9.

“First of all, new players, second, new strat (strategy), third, new team captain,” stated Tryke. “You know, all the problems, mixed together, then get thrown towards Bon Chan.”

The assistant coach, MTB further elaborates that Bon Chan has been doing a lot of “magic” for the team. He added that fans should look forward to all the interesting stuff Blacklist International shall soon deliver in the upcoming MPL season.

“You will see it in Season 9, all the magic that Bon Chan made to help the team keep up with the improvements needed,” stated MTB.

With a lot of changes implemented on the team, Tryke explained that he felt like Blacklist International is back to being underdogs this MPL Season.

“We lost two superstar players and at the same time, we need to reform our identity that the team had for almost a year,” stated Tryke.

He added that just because the team possessed exceptional coaches guiding the players, it would not necessarily mean that it would be easy to create a perfect team chemistry. It took the team multiple tournaments and experimentations just to formulate and present the identity that made Blacklist International so iconic in the Mobile Legends esports scene.

With little time left before the MPL PH Season 9 kicks off, Tryke stated that finding Blacklist International’s new identity will be one of the toughest challenges that the team must conquer. Fans can look forward to Blacklist International’s new gameplay in the upcoming tournament.