ONCE AGAIN the Royal Duo of Johnmar "OhMyV33nus" Villaluna and Danerie James "Wise" Del Rosario is out and Blacklist International will once again enter the MPL without their legendary Hall of Legends and multi-awarded duo.
Fans of the team have already expressed their concerns, with something announcing that they'll also take a break from watching the MPL. There are even some who question if Blacklist can still be a marketing juggernaut without the duo.
Looking back at what transpired in Season 9, when the Royal Duo first took their leave, Blacklist looked like a shell of their former selves. Their teamfights lacked the magic that made them M3 World Champs, their jungler back then (Kent Xavier "Kevier" Lopez) seemed overwhelmed, and the team struggled to formulate their identity.
From Dexter "DEX STAR" Alaba being randomly inserted in the main roster with only a Lolita pick, to fans demanding that Salic "Hadji" Imam be switched to a jungler role, to Edward Jay "Edward" Dapadap's sudden EXP lane Khufra, the Codebreakers looked like sheeps lost in the wilderness.
And now with the Royal Duo absent for Season 12, is Blacklist truly ready for the challenges ahead?

Who will step up as their in-game leader?
When looking at Blacklist's dynamic in previous seasons, the setup has always been centered around The Queen, OhMyV33nus, where she issues her command and everyone else listens.
This has always been Blacklist's Magna Carta due to V33nus' tactical prowess, profound understanding of the game where even the small details are highlighted, and her commanding presence when shotcalling.
So when Season 9 arrived, it was clearly evident that the team missed all of these factors.
Now with Season 12 underway, who will end up as the team's shotcaller? V33nus' commanding presence is something that is hard to emulate and in my opinion, Renejay "Renejay" Barcarse would be the closest there is to an in-game leader given his experience with Nexplay back in Season 9.
However here is one concern that I have, Renejay is still rusty with his overall performances, plus his playstyle as a roamer and even an EXP laner is somewhat predictable, as his first instinct is to sacrifice his life in order to create space for his teammates.
Meanwhile the other members seem to lack the commanding aura that OhMyV33nus presents.
With V33nus gone, the team's dynamic will drastically change as everyone is required to step up and communicate.

Is Sensui up for the challenge?
Blacklist's transition from Wise to Kevier back in Season 9 was basically a baptism by fire for the latter as he struggled to fill the shoes left by the King of Utility Jungling.
Coach Kristoffer "BON CHAN" Ricaplaza tried making Kevier into a utility jungler which backfired as he seemed uncomfortable playing the role. Then when the team decided to make a drastic shift by making him into an assassin-type, Kevier was marshalled as he was left scrambling out of his comfort zone.
Now it seems the Codebreakers may have learned from their Season 9 experience as they acquired a more seasoned jungler in Stephen "Sensui" Castillo.
Sensui is considered to be one of the most underrated junglers in the scene, as he manages to hold his ground while playing for Onic PH in previous seasons. His playstyle resembles that of Wise as he is renowned for his clutch retri plays plus his ability to surprise foes with random junglers like Grock and Minotaur.
He is also comfortable transitioning to assassin-based heroes, which are becoming a staple now given the current changes in the meta.
From a gameplay point-of-view, Sensui receives all the check marks in Coach BON CHAN's list, now the question remains if he can follow Wise's footprints and display his abilities in a prestigious club like Blacklist.

Looking at the positive side of things
While there are a plethora of concerns for the Codebreakers this season, there are some bright spots to look forward to.
One of the biggest concerns from Blacklist last season stem from the rigidity of their supporting duo as OhMyV33nus isn't renowned for setup roamers (only limited to Minotaur and Lolita), while Kenneth Carl "Yue" Tadeo can only play mage-type midlaners. This has been their gameplan ever since MOONTON decided to force teams to utilize marksman gold laners.
Now with V33nus taking a break, Blacklist can further experiment on other roamers in their arsenal and maybe we could see the return of Hadji's classic Chou or Popol and Kupa picks.
And if back in Season 9, Blacklist only had a few options in their reserve pool, this season features a plethora of options in case they need to tweak their roster.
Kiel "Oheb" Soriano and Lee Howard "Owl" Gonzales are both solid gold laners, while Hadji, Russel "Eyon" Usi, and Yue have shown prowess in their midlane role.
In terms of EXP, Coach BON CHAN and Aniel "Master The Basics" Jiandani could utilize Edward or Renejay, and the same can be said with the roamer role as Hadji, Kim "Kimpoy" Dela Cruz, and Renejay are all available.
Overall there are a lot of question marks for Blacklist this season and while it may seem that the team has learned from their errors before, it will all boil down on how they will perform in Season 12.
It will be much tougher now, knowing that RSG has already found their next big thing, Bren already reaching their peak prowess, Omega and other teams bringing something new to the table, and ECHO bossing around with their championship pedigree.
Will the Codebreakers discover a new code or will history once again repeat itself?
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