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The Codebreakers continue to prove that they’re not just a developing region team that can be swept away.
It was a tough close for week three of KIC 2025 for Blacklist International but they remain proud as they brought HomeBois BSE to a full seven games series. While the tournament favorites ended up winning in the end, this was a massive moral boost for the Philippines.
“Magandang experience siya sa amin kase alam namin na kaya namin yung defending champions ng KIC,” said Blacklist International’s Top Laner Chammy “Chammy1” Nazarrea in an interview with the media. “Para sa hero pool namin, napatunayan namin na kaya namin laroin halos lahat ng mga heroes. Na-fall short kami pero based on this experience, kaya na namin yung mga Malaysian teams.”
Even more impressive was that Blacklist were able to completely lockdown HomeBois in a couple of their wins. It looked like if you took the nameplates off, you would have thought Blacklist was the top Malaysian team. It’s a massive improvement, and it’s coming from a team that missed the China bootcamp that happened before KIC 2025.
“Feel ko na yung napagaralan ng mga teams sa China bootcamp, naaral na namin nung Esports World Cup,” said Blacklist International’s Jungler Justine “Juschie” Tan. “Na-experience na namin yung AG and TT, so hindi na kami naninibago sa kanilang playstyle.”
AG Super Play and TT Global were the two grand finalists in the HoK EWC 2025 tournament. Despite being the only two Chinese teams in the tournament, they dominated the field and were clearly on a different level compared to the other 16 global teams.
“So dahil na-practice na namin nung dati siya, mas-napapaganda namin siya hanggang ngayon,” continued Juschie. “Compared to sa mga ibang teams na ngayon lang nila natutunan yung playstyle na ganon, so nabibigla sila sa mga nangyayari.”
More Than Just Practice
Now that Blacklist are in the lower bracket, they have to face Italy’s Twisted Minds. It’s looking to be just as difficult of a match as any Malaysian team as Twisted Minds made an impressively deep run in EWC, finishing fourth.
However, Blacklist are neither intimidated or deterred. In fact, they seem even more excited to face stronger teams despite their tournament lives being on the line. All their training has proven that they can hang with some of the best HoK teams in the world. They just need a little extra push to make it to that next level.
“It’s not just about practice para sa amin. It’s about determination at tsaka yung gigil namin as a team,” said Blacklist International’s Mid Laner Dragon Dajao. “Doon kami kumukuha ng lakas para matalo yung mga Malaysian teams. Hindi siya about sa practice lang, kailangan talaga motivated kayo as a team. Yun yung ifo-focus namin. Napatunayan na namin na pag ganun yung preparation namin, talagang kaya namin kahit sino makalaban namin.”
Banner photo from Level Infinite.