Blacklist International reveal Filipino all-star Dota 2 team with Raven, Karl, Kuku, Tims, Eyyou
Filipino esports giant Blacklist International unveiled their Dota 2 roster on Thursday (24 November) featuring some of the best players from the Philippines.
The star-studded lineup is stacked full of veterans from the Southeast Asia pro scene, with Marc Polo "Raven" Fausto, Karl "Karl" Baldovino, Carlo "Kuku" Palad, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, and Nico "eyyou" Barcelon.
Mission: REDEMPTION.
Introducing our official roster for the upcoming DPC 2023 season.
⚫ Carlo "@Kukudota" Palad
⚫ Timothy "@TimsDOTA" Randrup
⚫ Marc Polo "@ravendoto" Fausto
⚫ Nico "@eyyoudota2" Barcelon
⚫ Karl "@keyemjey" Baldovino pic.twitter.com/Uu0IGKdec7— BLACKLIST INTERNATIONAL 👑 (@BLACKLISTINTL) November 24, 2022
Blacklist International formally entered the Dota 2 scene on 17 November by purchasing a Division I slot in the Southeast Asian regional league of the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) from Singapore-based organisation RSG.
Blacklist International's new Filipino all-star roster include some of the most experienced and decorated players to have come from the Philippines.
Tryke Gutierrez, co-founder and CEO of Tier One Entertainment, the agency that manages Blacklist International, notably said in a Facebook post earlier this month that his dream was "to build a [Philippines] redeem team".
Four of the five players, Raven, Kuku, Tims, and eyyou, have previously played together in various points under TNC — an organisation that once dominated the Southeast Asian Dota 2 scene with a majority of its rosters being Filipino players.
Only Karl has not yet played for TNC during his career, though he did play with Raven and Kuku in T1.
Prior to joining forces under the Blacklist International banner, the team's newly-acquired players were part of some of the best teams in Southeast Asia.
Raven spent the last two years with Fnatic, helping the team finish in the Top 3 of all three Tours in the 2021-2022 DPC season. Raven parted ways with Fnatic on 11 November.
Karl and Kuku both played for T1 prior to joining Blacklist International. Karl left the team in early August while Kuku was released by the organisation when it disbanded its Dota 2 team.
Tims last played for BOOM Esports, considered by many as the strongest team in Southeast Asia last season.
He helped the team finish in the Top 3 of all three Tour last season, winning the Winter and Summer Tour regional leagues. Tims parted ways with BOOM on 20 November.
Meanwhile, eyyou last played for Polaris Esports and became a free agent when the team disbanded on 15 November.
The reveal of Blacklist International roster is the latest of many developments in the global Dota 2 scene's ongoing post-The International 11 (TI11) roster shuffle.
With so much of the Dota 2 competitive scene cantered around TI and its multimillion-dollar prize pools, most teams are formed with the goal of getting to the game's world championship tournament in a bid to claim the Aegis of Champions and the lion's share of the massive prize.
But only one team can win TI, with Tundra Esports being crowned as the champions of TI11 this year.
With that, the rest of the scene are now scrambling to assemble the best rosters possible to try again next year.
For all the biggest moves in the ongoing Dota 2 post-TI roster shuffle you should know about, check here.
Blacklist International roster:
Marc Polo "Raven" Fausto
Karl "Karl" Baldovino
Carlo "Kuku" Palad
Timothy "Tims" Randrup
Nico "eyyou" Barcelon
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