In recent years, women have been making big strides toward representation and empowerment across fields. The younger generation of girls has many more to look up to for inspiration. These days, it includes female esports athletes who are making their presence known. You can count Blacklist International's ZOL MLBB Women's Team in that because the members of this elite team are determined to break (and completely eliminate) the stigma surrounding women in esports, one game at a time.
The all-female team, consisting of Taro, Bene, Rain, Jewel, and Rianne, is making strides in empowering female esports athletes. Their first move? Showing how you can be a girly girl and still love esports through a campaign with Palmolive.
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Meet The Members Of Blacklist International's ZOL MLBB Women's Team
The team made their debut on the BLACKOUT stage last December 2024. The team shared that they want to symbolize "empowerment" and also, "gusto po namin ma-inspire 'yung ibang mga babae na gusto ring i-pursue 'yung gaming passion nila." The girls are ready to show what they've got in the 2025 MLBB (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang) calendar. Each member introduced themselves and shared a little bit about their journey as female esports athletes in a video posted by Blacklist International, the official esports division of Tier One Entertainment.
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Denise Marasigan (Taro)
Denise Marasigan, also known as Taro, plays as the Gold Laner. In their introductory video, Taro shared that she did not expect to end up on the esports path. In fact, she only started gaming as a hobby.
"Kasi masaya lang, ('pag) vacant 'pag nag-aaral. Nagulat po ako nagtuloy-tuloy na. So sige, go na lang." Taro then further shared how far she's come by pursuing her career in gaming. "Tapos nakakapunta na rin po sa ibang bansa dahil sa gaming. Nagiging masaya ako kasi I earn money as paglalaro po na gusto ko talagang gawin."
Venezia Corpuz (Bene)
Venezia Corpuz, whose in-game name is Bene, is the Jungler of Blacklist International's MLBB women's team. Bene, like a lot of people, started playing in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. When Bene recalled her beginning with Mobile Legends, she credited her mom for getting her into the game.
"Nag-download ako 'nung ML tapos naglalaro kami nung nanay ko. Mas malakas pa siya sa'kin noon kasi kaka-start ko lang." she quipped with a laugh. Bene then added that she slowly found herself enjoying the game, but did not get addicted to it. "Nag-start siya as pampalipas oras lang, for fun lang."
Honey Jemlan Talagtag (Rain)
Honey Jemlan Talagtag, the Mid Laner of Blacklist International's MLBB women's team, goes by the name Rain in-game. Honey revealed that she started playing Mobile Legends when she was in the seventh grade upon her classmates' suggestion. "Noong una, parang trip trip lang, kasi busy ako sa school noon. Nilalaro ko lang yung ML 'pag nabo-bored ako. Tapos di ko na siya namamalayan na nag-eenjoy na ako and nag-iimprove na 'yung skills ko." she recounted.
She then recollected how she first started playing an on-site tournament with her peers. "Ayun, nag-champion kami noon. Natuwa ako noon kasi parang achievement sa akin na nag-aaral ako tapos nag-champion ako noon."
Jewel Reyes (Jewel)
Jewel Reyes, who chose to go by her real name in-game, is one of the Roamers of the team. Jewel mentioned that she first started playing online PC games because her aunt owned a computer shop. She remembered that she played first-person shooting (FPS) games with her cousins back then. While her move to start playing Mobile Legends was merely a hobby, it seems her prior experience with FPS games has laid a solid foundation in her style of gameplay.
Lhoureian Hadiyah Alcaraz (Rianne)
Lhoureian Hadiyah Alcaraz, known by her in-game name Rianne, is another Roamer for the Blacklist International MLBB women's team. Rianne admitted that she has always been fond of playing mobile games up until her phone could no longer handle it. With a little chuckle, she then recounted how she first saw her older sister playing Mobile Legends. This, she said, ultimately led her to start playing again. "Tinry ko siya, ayun nag-enjoy ako. Hanggang sa napupuyat na ako kakalaro."
