Blacklist had defied expectations in last year’s International Championship, surviving the group stages and winning its opening match in the playoffs.
MANILA, Philippines — Though finishing fourth in the Honor of Kings International Championships (KIC) held at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay over the weekend, Filipino champion Blacklist International still caught the eye of fans and teams all over the world.
Eventual tournament winner and two-time international Honor of Kings champion, HomeBois Black Shrew Esport (HBSE) had a dominant run throughout the tournament except for one series—its upper bracket matchup against Blacklist International, which came down to a Game 7 Ultimate Battle decider.
“We didn’t expect to go to Ultimate Battle [against Blacklist]. The Philippines and PKL (Philippines King League) [is] very impressive and also improved a lot, especially Blacklist,” said HBSE head coach Lai Kok “Joker” Kiong.
Blacklist had defied expectations in last year’s International Championship, surviving the group stages and winning its opening match in the playoffs. This year, the squad lived up to its billing as host country top seed, cruising through the group stages to book a playoff ticket.
“Blacklist does not have any import player or coach. They’re pure-Filipino and that’s very impressive. They’ve really worked hard. I spoke to their coach, they usually scrim until very late at night and afterwards they will still review matches— even ours—and try to learn from them,” said Kiong.
The hard work paid off as Blacklist finished fourth in KIC, the highest for a Philippine team ever recorded in an international Honor of Kings tournament, just falling behind three Malaysian teams.
Kiong added, “Their work ethic I think is the reason why [Blacklist] finished in the top 4 in KIC. This also sends the message to other teams or other regions. If you want to get a good result, you have to play 2 or 3 times harder than the other teams.”
For Blacklist’s head coach, Gerald “Tgee” Gelacio, the Philippines is really bridging the gap with other regions, especially those that have been playing Honor of Kings longer.
“Mechanics wise malapit na tayo. Yung kulang na lang talaga sa atin is discipline in-game. Kung titingnan natin yung Malaysian teams, if mahina sila sa early game, alam nila yung dapat gawin nilang rotation or play para maturn-around yung lead. Game knowledge kaya na natin anbd kaunti pa siguro sa hero pool pero kaya na natin sumabay,” said Gelacio.
The country’s hosting of the tournament marked the end of the 2025 global season of Honor of Kings, which coincidentally also started in the country back in February, when the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 was held at The Block Atrium at SM North Edsa.
The next global event will be the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 4, which will be held in January 2026 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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