Tier One Entertainment chief executive officer Tryke Gutierrez's humble beginning and love for the game inspired him from assembling a solid team that will compete in the DOTA Pro Circuit Division I.
Dubbed as Blacklist Rivalry, Gutierrez put together a group of battle-hardened players in veterans Carlo "Kuku" Palad, Timothy "Tims" Randrup, Marc Polo "Raven" Fausto, Nico "Eyyou" Barcelon and Karl "Karl" Baldovino that aims to make the country proud in professional DOTA stage.
"When I started in Esports 12 years ago, I really found my love and passion for DOTA first before creating Tier One and doing what I do today. What I can say is that this is a game that is really very sentimental to a lot of people," Gutierrez said.
"If you meet people in Esports and gaming today, most of their roots really come from the DOTA 1 and PC space playing with their friends and people they grew up with."
"Personally, I entered Esports because there were not a lot of opportunities for people like me to pursue gaming as a career. With Tier One Entertainment we were able to create something different in such a way that it became influential and bigger."
Once feared as a DOTA 2 powerhouse in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines failed to send a representative in the latest installment of The International, which is touted as the grandest stage in all of competitive Esports.
Gutierrez made his moves in forming a competitive Filipino organization that houses an all-Filipino roster as soon as The International 11 ended last October.
As various organizations ended their contracts with players after the season, building Blacklist Rivalry became a lot easier for Gutierrez.
"To be in DOTA 2 again and put up one of the most decorated and very expensive teams we have seen in a long time is all I can say," he said.
"This all happened even before TI and then right after we went on a meeting and talked about the possibility of working together," Gutierrez shared.
"That was when things shaped up and became real. We have a shot at putting up a team that is formidable in competing against the world."
"Finding Kuku and the rest of the players was such a fortunate thing because a lot of contracts were finished when we were signing up people and looking for players. I truly believe in Filipino talent in terms of DOTA 2."
