Blacklist Rivarly Signs Ninjaboogie as Head Coach

Blacklist Rivalry officially welcomed Michael “ninjaboogie” Ross as its head coach for the Dota Pro Circuit Southeast Asia 2023 Tour 2: Division I last Wednesday night.

The star-studded Filipino Dota 2 squad went through the first tour without a head coach and ended up missing the Lima Major after losing to Talon Esports in the tiebreaker for the third seed.

Blacklist Rivalry ended up at fourth place with a 4-3 win-loss standing.

The team received backlash from fans after they decided to push through the season without a chief tactician.

But according to Blacklist International co-owner Tryke Guttierez, the team wanted to establish its identity first and lay the foundation of how they want to play before getting a coach which is why Blacklist Rivalry went through the first tour with only an analyst and team manager to help them.

“This has been a conversation that I see everywhere and iba-iba talaga opinion ng lahat dito. In our case we talked to the players even before we signed them up and some of the challenges talaga dito is there are a million ways to win in Dota and some established coaches usually has their philosophy kung ano ang playstyle and with it come heroes na nagmamatch sa playstyle na yun,” Tryke said in a Facebook post last January 28.

“Yung challenge kasi sa ganun is in Blacklist we got very experienced players na merong idea kung paano nila gusto maglaro ng Dota 2 yung team in terms of gameplay identity. We believe that building a solid foundation sa simula will help us a lot in the long term,” he continued.

Ninjaboogie, who last played for Team SMG, has a wealth of Dota 2 experience under his belt after playing the game for more than a decade. 

The 31-year-old Filipino-American Dota 2 star played a vital role in Mineski’s back-to-back The International appearances in 2018 and 2019. He has also played for more than 10 teams throughout his career and won multiple championships in the Dota 2 scene.

With Ninjaboogie now in tow, Blacklist Rivalry is hoping to finally get over the hump come Tour 2 of the DPC SEA.

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