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| Polo Fausto and Tims Randrup confirmed on Thursday that they are staying with Blacklist, and the day after, the new additions like Abed Yusop were named. Ivan Saldajeno |
MAKATI—It's official: Abed Yusop is part of a Filipino DOTA 2 team again.
Yusop is among the three new members of Blacklist International as announced by the esports franchise on Friday.
Yusop, then 16 years old, last played domestically for Execration in 2016 before the wunderkind embarked on an international career that saw him joining North American sides with two years with Southeast Asian powerhouse Fnatic in between.
Now 23, the midlaner from Dasmarinas looks to bring his international experience back home as he signed with the Alodia Gosiengfiao-co-owned club.
On the other hand, Blacklist also recruited Kim Santos and Carlo Manalo.
Santos, known as "Gabbi", is set for a reunion with former TNC Predator teammates Tims Randrup and Polo "Raven" Fausto, the holdovers from the Blacklist quintet that played in The International 2023 Southeast Asia Qualifier.
Randrup and Fausto were among the special guests in the media launch of the Asia-Pacific Predator League on Thursday night at Whitespace Manila here, formally signifying that they are staying put with Blacklist the day before the announcement of the new roster.
Blacklist is among the three Filipino teams that are playing in the Predator League main tournament this January at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, the other two being Execration and Polaris.
Blacklist fell short of clinching a place in TI '23 after getting swept by Team SMG in the finals of the qualifying phase, marking the first time in a long while that no Filipino club made it to TI and capping a so-so 2022-2023 season for the supposed "Redeem Team" of the Philippine DOTA 2 scene.
Yusop was one of three Filipinos in a TI '23 club, being part of Shopify Rebellion, but after a shock early exit, the team let him go, paving the way for Blacklist to sign him up.
The "Redeem Team 2.0" debuts in the ESL One Kuala Lumpur Open Qualifiers later this month.
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