Team Falcons wins ESL One Birmingham 2024. File photo from ESL
MANILA, Philippines – Team Falcons has finally reached Philippine soil, as the Saudi Arabian organization took up the slot vacated by Blacklist International in MPL Philippines.
In an intimate luncheon meet hosted by the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) league on Friday in Makati City, Falcons' Global Director of Esports Grant Rousseau gave a glimpse of their plans in the region and the possibility of expansion.
But unfortunately, creating another squad dedicated to PC game Dota 2 is not in their checklist.
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Team Falcons Global Director of Esports Grant Rousseau. Kennedy Caacbay, ABS-CBN News
Why? Well, here's how Rousseau stated it -- they already have "the best Dota team in the world."
"Well, yeah, people have mentioned Dota a few times. Well, unfortunately we have the best Dota team in the world," Rousseau told ABS-CBN News.
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Team Falcons, the pack joined by notable professional players Oliver "skiter" Lepko, Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak, Ammar "ATF" Al-Assaf, Andreas " Cr1t-" Nielsen, and Wu "Sneyking" Jingjun, has been dominating the international Dota 2 scene for a while now, having won top-tier tournaments recently such as DreamLeague Seasons 22-24, BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024, and ESL One Birmingham 2024.
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The esports giant remains open to joining some mobile gaming titles, Rousseau said, and they will make the Philippines their base.
"Yes, so obviously MLBB is the focus for us now, and it's a big reason we've entered the Philippines. But we're building out a staff and a set-up here in the Philippines, with the possibility that we might look at other games in the Southeast Asia region. Whatever we do, it will be from the Philippines in some format, because that's what we've chosen to build," he said.