Cover-Credits:
With its dynamic duo Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie James “Wise” Del Rosario taking a brief hiatus, the M3 World Champions Blacklist International needed to revamp its roster for the upcoming Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) Professional League (MPL) Philippines (PH) Season 9. In a YouTube series titled “Turning Point” the team’s latest recruit, Kent Xavier “KEVIER” Lopez, revealed that Blacklist International will be using a different playstyle in the upcoming MPL PH Season 9. He also shared a bit of information about his life as a pro player and a student along with which pro player or team he admires the most.
Fans will be seeing a brand new Blacklist International playstyle in the upcoming season
Despite the unavailability of two of its core members, Blacklist International has signed a solid lineup with its new member KEVIER. The pro player specializes in assassin heroes but is also quite flexible enough to fill in different roles for the team.
Through a YouTube series presented by the co-owner of Blacklist International, Tryke Gutierrez, the pro player revealed more information about himself and what he brings to the table as one of the latest recruits of Blacklist International.
According to the pro player, the Blacklist International squad was already familiar with him even before the V33Wise duo joined the team.
“They (Blacklist International) already knew me before, we got to play RG (Ranked Games) together and other stuff,” stated KEVIER.
The pro player added that he was originally a Gold Laner but he sometimes switches to Mid Lane when needed. But as time went on, he transitioned to playing as a Jungler, specializing in assassin heroes.
According to Tryke, Blacklist International intentionally avoided using Assassin heroes. But with KEVIER on the team, it looks like the back-to-back MPL PH champions will bring in a lot of surprises with regards to plays for the upcoming MPL PH Season 9.
“(The team will go) Aggressive on early game,” stated KEVIER. “I observed that Blacklist’s playstyle is mostly about scaling their late-game heroes like Aldous and marksmen. But now, with assassins, mostly early game."
Blacklist International is widely known for its Ultimate Bonding Experience (UBE) strategy. The strategy revolves around the team scaling heavily into the late game with the team captain and support specialist OhMyV33nus acting as the glue that keeps the team together through thick and thin. This makes the team near-invincible and inseparable during team fights. While some teams managed to win against Blacklist International, no team so far has come up with a hard counter against Blacklist International’s UBE strategy.
KEVIER is a hardcore pro player as well as a diligent student
Despite KEVIER getting a chance to go big in the MLBB esports scene, he still values education and is trying to balance his esports career and student life.
“For me, it’s easy to be a pro player and also a student. Sometimes, during online class, I play (MLBB),” stated KEVIER.
He added that due to the global pandemic leading esports events to switch to an online format, he managed to take his esports career seriously as he is more comfortable playing online than joining offline events.
KEVIER is confident that he can contribute to the team’s success this MPL season
As an assassin specialist, KEVIER also admires his fellow assassin main, Ygnacio “Kairi” Rayosdelsol from ONIC PH. According to him, he strives to be on par with Kairi's level, to the extent of him being considered as Kairi's rival at some point.
“I wanna beat him (Kairi), it’s like I’ll challenge him until my idol becomes my rival,” stated KEVIER.
While the pro player admitted that he is still adjusting and making himself comfortable in communicating with his team, he confidently states that he will achieve his goals in winning the MPL PH Season 9 and the future tournaments that follow.
Tryke echoed that some fans will have high expectations from the team this season while others are expecting the team to lose its back-to-back championship title. However, fans will be seeing an entirely new Blacklist International this season, and he is looking forward to what surprises the team will be revealing soon.
“Look forward to Blacklist International this season 9 because we’ll be showing a different playstyle this time. We’ll show you that despite the different playstyle, we can still be champions,” stated KEVIER.
The stakes are high for Blacklist International. But as KEVIER mentioned, fans can look forward to a whole new playstyle from the back-to-back MPL PH champions in the upcoming tournament.
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