Blacklist International veteran Dexter “Dex Star” Alaba has been the trusted analyst and solid back-end support for the squad during its championship runs in the MPL Seasons 7 and 8 and M3 World Championship.
But when he was reinserted to the main lineup for the current season, Dex Star took some time to get accustomed to his role.
Blacklist's lackluster start to its three-peat bid in the MPL led to the veteran player getting activated to the lineup – something that Dex Star admittedly didn’t expect.
However, seeing the team struggle after missing the leadership of Jonmar “OhmyV33nus” Villaluna, Dex Star felt the urge of stepping up to lead the young talented squad.
“Nung kinausap ako ni coach yung apat kasi mechanical skills na ‘yan, aminin ko naman talagang pawala na kami sa scene, di ko nga ineexpect na makakalaro pa ako pero ang kailangan lang talaga nila siguro yung mag-guide,” said Dex Star in the aftermath of its breakthrough win at the expense of the fellow struggling Bren Esports team.
It still took a week for Blacklist to score a victory on the board even with Dex Star after the team still came up dry in Week 2.
Under his leadership though, the team looked better in Week 3, splitting its assignments after winning against Bren via sweep before losing to RSG Philippines, 2-1. Although the squad failed to notch its first win streak of the season, the team noticeably played better especially rookie Kent “Kevier” Lopez.
Coach Kristoffer “Bon Chan” Ricaplaza then stressed the importance of having a vocal leader in-game especially for its young and talented lineup that also featured the MVP trio of Salic “Hadji” Imam, Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap and Kiel “Oheb” Soriano.
“Kailangan nila ng leader kailangan nila ng captain material. Alam natin na si Hadji yung itinalagang captain pero di pa talaga siya captain material di pa siya hinog kailangan lang talaga nila ng taong magli-lead,” added Bon Chan.
Blacklist will try to improve its 1-5 record when it takes on nemesis Omega Esports on Saturday.