The rookie members of Blacklist International Sibol MLBB national team are bracing for the challenges in representing the country in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in May.

Kyle “Dominic” Soto and Lee Howard “Owl” Gonzales are playing in place of Blacklist stars Kiel “Oheb” Soriano and Edward “EDWARD” Dapadap who were unavailable for the biennial meet due to the age restrictions set by the host country.
Aside from the two, another rookie in Russel Aaron “Eyon” Usi is also representing the country even before he set foot in the MPL Philippines stage.
They will join the tried-and-tested dynamic duo of Jonmar "OhmyV33NUS" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario along with veterans Salic “Hadji” Imam and Dexter “Dex Star” Alaba.
The pressure however hardly bothered the Blacklist rookies and were even ready to embrace the expectations that comes with representing the country under the banner of the M3 World Champions.
Dominic and Owl expressed their confidence on the team ahead of the regional meet especially after holding their own against established MPL stars during the Sibol qualifiers which the team won to secure the spot in the Sibol national team selection.
“Nakakaba pero kakayanin,” said Owl during the Sibol SEA Games campaign kickoff last week.
“Pressured kasi yung team na sinalihan namin world champion pero maoovercome din namin yun,” Dominic echoed.
With less than two months left before the Hanoi Games, Blacklist is hard-pressed in its training in hopes to replicate the gold mint achieved by the all-star Sibol MLBB cast in 2019 led by M2 MVP Karl “Karltzy” Nepomuceno.
“Chemistry po yung magdadala sa amin sa tulong din ng management ng Sibol,” said Eyon.
“Magpractice lang to the best namin para irepresent ang Pilipinas tsaka ‘yung chemistry namin bubuuin pa nmin lalo para lalo lumakas,” added Dominic.
The squad is pegged as the heavy favorites to win the tournament but it is expected to get a run for its money against the national teams of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and host Vietnam