Blacklist International superstars Johnmar “OhMyV33nus” Villaluna and Danerie James “Wise” del Rosario decided to skip the qualifier for SIBOL — the national Esports squad that will compete in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Peng from 5 to 17 May.
In a statement, Blacklist said it had given its players the freedom to decide to represent the country in the prestigious biennial meet.
Like the format used in the previous selection process, SIBOL opted to have tryouts by teams and not by individual players. With that, the likes of newly-crowned M4 Mobile Legends world champion ECHO, Blacklist, Bren Esports will all have equal chances to banner the country.
But in Blacklist’s case, OhMyV33nus and Wise, or collectively known as V33Wise, decided not to be part of the qualifiers so Blacklist will be bannered by the likes Edward Jay “EDWARD” Dapadap, Kiel Calvin “Oheb” Soriano, Salic “Hadji” Imam, Renejay “RENEJAY” Barcarse and Ian Jakob “Rindo” Seguiran.
“After consulting with our players and coaches, who had the freedom to choose to compete or take their rest, these are our updated rosters for the upcoming tournaments in 2023,” Blacklist announced.
“Our team for the upcoming SEA Games Mobile Legends: Bang Bang qualifiers will include our very own MV3 — EDWARD, Oheb, Hadji, RENEJAY and Rindo.”
Blacklist, the lone three-time Mobile Legends Professional League Philippines and M3 world champion, is coming off a failed attempt to defend its world crown after falling prey to ECHO in the recent M4 tourney in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This is not the first time that OhMyV33nus and Wise have skipped a major tourney.
It can be remembered that the real-life couple also chose not to play in MPL Philippines Season 9 which proved costly for Blacklist as it failed to make it to the Playoffs.
Blacklist, however, made it clear that V33Wise, which won a gold medal in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the last installment of SEA Games, will be back in action for MPL Season 11.
“For the upcoming MPL PH Season 11, our superstar duo of Ohmyv33nus and Wise have confirmed their decision to play under Blacklist International. Please stay tuned for the announcement of our full roster for the upcoming season,” Blacklist stated.
