Despite the name, this org definitely isn’t blacklisted, as they partner with Rivalry and welcome sponsor Predator.
Blacklist International has partnered with sports betting and media company Rivalry to form Blacklist Rivalry, a new banner which the Dota 2 will compete under in the future. The news was revealed by release, and on social media yesterday, unveiling the co-managed team that will compete in the DPC season for the 2022/2023 season.
Blacklist International, a division of Tier One Entertainment, revealed its intentions to enter the Dota 2 scene late last month, before introducing their new roster a few days later. The squad of Carlo “Kuku” Palad, Timothy “Tims” Randrup, Marc Polo “Raven” Fausto, Nico “eyyou” Barcelon, Karl “Karl” Baldovino, features some of the most storied names in pinoy Dota, with more TI appearances than many of the game’s biggest orgs between them.
Tier One Entertainment and Blacklist CEO Tryke Gutierrez explained the decision behind these signings in the recent release “Assembling a decorated team like this won't guarantee us a win. There is still a lot of work to be done for sure but for us in Blacklist, we're just happy that we'll get to compete against the best in the world with this roster. This is a dream come true, yes, but we have much bigger dreams and aspirations for this group.”
"This is a dream come true, yes, but we have much bigger dreams and aspirations for this group.”
Those aspirations and dreams have had a huge boost now, after partnering with Rivalry. But the new org acknowledged how they’d got to this point Blacklist’s bid for a Dota 2 team kicked off after acquiring the DPC Division 1 slot from Singapore-based RSG. “I would like to thank my friend Jayf Soh of RSG for being such a professional throughout this whole deal process. We will continue what you started." Gutierrez added.
Blacklist Rivalry’s Predator sponsorship
On top of Blacklist International partnering with Rivalry, the duo of organizations announced that gaming hardware titan Predator had also partnered with the new team as a major sponsor. This sponsorship facilitates the team’s boot camp for the upcoming season with high-end Predator-branded gaming PCs.
Acer Philippines general manager Sue Ong-Lim commented on the sponsorship on behalf of Predator’s parent company: “Predator Gaming is very happy to support Blacklist International. It has always been our goal to support esports from the grassroots to the professional level and we’re very honored to work with Tier One Entertainment and Blacklist International as they finally expand to Dota 2.”
Overally, it seems like this new name in the SEA scene has all the tools they need to succeed at the highest levels of Dota 2.