Blacklist Rivalry not blinded by Esports World Cup prize pool

MANILA, Philippines – Blacklist Rivalry is laser-focused on its upcoming participation in the Riyadh Masters taking place at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Esports World Cup is a celebration of esports and gaming, with multiple esports tournaments taking place from July to August and will see 22 events in 21 different video game titles. The event has a combined prize pool of over $60 million. Among the tournaments are the Mobile Legends Bang Bang Mid-Season Cup (MSC), the PUBG Mobile World Cup (PMWC) and Dota2's Riyadh Master.

For Blacklist Rivalry, the prize pool isn't something they are fixating on.

"Para sa akin, the prize pool is something that I look at after the tournament. Going to the tournament, ang goal lang is manalo; bonus na lang yung prize pool," said captain, Abed "Abed" Yusop.

Though coach Kim "DuBu" Doo-young has joked of already booking cruise tickets when asked what the team would do with the prize money if ever they win, the team insists that the primary goal is to win.

"Yung mga tournament feel ko same same lang. Yung sinasabi niyong intensify [yung motivation sa prize pool] it goes both ways, pwede kang pumalpak o pwede kang gumaling kapag masyado mong iniisip. So kailangan normal at [trato mo] same lang lahat ng tournament whether malaki or maliit," said player Jaunuel "Jaunuel" Arcilla.

Blacklist Rivalry hopes to secure a group stage slot as it takes part in the Riyadh Masters Play-Ins starting July 4. The squad is seeded in Group A with South America's beastcoast, Western Europe's Entity, Eastern Europe's Virtus.pro and Chinese teams LGD Gaming and G2 x iG.