BOOM Esports rules maiden Philippines King League to compete redemption bid

MANILA, Philippines — After missing out on the Honor of Kings (HoK) Season 3 Invitational held in the country last February, BOOM Esports completed its redemption arc by surviving reigning local champion Blacklist International, 4-3, in the grand finals of the first Philippines King League last Sunday at the One Ayala Concourse.

The first local Honor of Kings champion since the game's global launch last year, BOOM Esports had been considered the top Filipino HoK team, having been No. 1 in the Philippine qualifiers for the entire 2024. The squad even qualified for the HoK Mid-Season Invitational at the Esports World Cup (EWC), finishing in tied ninth-10th place.

But the team’s dominance saw a road bump when the squad failed to qualify for the Season 3 Invitational, which was being hosted by the Philippines early this year.

Heading into the first HoK professional League, BOOM Esports vowed to return to the world stage, but went off to a slow start, suffering two loses in the first two weeks of the league.

Regaining momentum, BOOM Esports took four consecutive wins and though it suffered another loss at the hands of ACT Esports Club and Blacklist International, the team ended the group stages as the second seed with a 10-4 standing.

In the playoffs, BOOM Esports wasted no time in drafting its signature hero picks against Rough World Kadiliman. But a disastrous team fight by the Tyrant saw a shutdown on jungler Karl "KARLLL" Bautista, which eventually turned the game, giving Rough World Kadiliman the series lead.

Learning from its over aggression, BOOM Esports took just under 10 minutes to tie the best-of-five series. And with its eyes set on returning to EWC, the team backed on momentum to take the next two games to drop Rough World Kadiliman to the lower bracket at 3-1 and book a ticket to the Honor of Kings World Cup 2025 happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during EWC.

With an EWC berth secured, all focus was now on the championship. But the undefeated top seed — Blacklist International — stood in Boom Esports’ way.

The upper bracket finals proved why both squads were the top HoK teams in the country as the back-and-forth matches went from a best-of-five to a best-of-one. The Codebreakers emerged on top, 3-2, dropping BOOM Esports to the lower bracket. There, Boom Esports faced ACT Esports Club, which gave the former its first loss in the regular season.

And though things seem to repeat itself with ACT Esports taking the first game, BOOM Esports adapted quickly to the play style of the country's other EWC representative. Boom Esports once again took three consecutive games to set a rematch against the still-undefeated Blacklist International.

BOOM Esports opened the series with an aggressive play style, even posting a score of 9-0 within 10 minutes of the game. Though Blacklist International seemed to be battling to turn the tides, it would be BOOM Esports that would take the series opener.

However, Blacklist International was undefeated for a reason. The Codebreakers quickly tied the series in Game 2 with a swift 10-2 victory in just a little over 13 minutes.

Game 3 saw BOOM Esports' John "Impressive" Curz use the hero Athena to meddle with Blacklist International's map rotation, and even though the score was not in favor of BOOM Esports, they had control of the goldlead and the map. The over-extension on Blacklist International's base to try and end the game, however, saw the Codebreakers punish BOOM Esports, almost scoring an Ace but prompting Blacklist International to march down the bottom to give them the series advantage.

Blacklist International continued to ride its winning momentum as it continued to overpower BOOM Esports in Game 4 to propel themselves to match point.

It would be Game 5 that changed the tide of the series as BOOM Esports was finally able to outmaneuver Blacklist International, maximizing their minion wave in the bottom lane as they initiated a team fight. This prevented Blacklist International from defending its base.

Game 6 saw BOOM Esports with both macro and micro play, preventing Blacklist International from securing a single objective to push the series into a best-of-one Ultimate Battle format (blind draft).

With two heroes the same on both teams, it would be Bautista again on his signature Augran that would give his team the advantage and put BOOM Esports back on the champion pedestal.

BOOM Esports, Blacklist International and ACT Esports Club will represent the Philippines in the upcoming Kings World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this July, as part of the Esports World Cup.