Find out everything you need to know about the Honor of Kings (HoK) Invitational S3 next month in the Philippines.
The Honor of Kings (HoK) Invitational S3 is just around the corner, with teams worldwide securing their spots for the first HoK international esports tournament of the 2025. The tournament boasts a total prize pool of $300,000 and will be held from Feb. 21 to Mar. 1 in SM City North EDSA, Manila, Philippines.
The tournament marks the third season of the Invitational series, with the first season being held in Turkey and the second season in Malaysia, both previously in 2024. For the first time in the Honor of Kings global tournament, the tournament will introduce a Global Ban & Pick system.
HoK Invitational S3 teams
There are the 12 teams qualifying for the tournament through Regional Qualifiers. Just like last year, the tournament will invite global teams, while excluding the Chinese team.
Num. Region Path Team (Country) | 1 World Philippines Qualifier Blacklist International (Philippines) | 2 LATAM and North America Philippines Qualifier Elevate (Philippines) | 3 Europe, Middle East, and Africa Philippines Qualifier Rough World Era (Philippines) | 4 Asia Pacific Indonesia Qualifier Bigetron Sigma (Indonesia) | 5 Southeast Asia Indonesia Qualifier Kagendra (Indonesia) | 6 Southeast Asia Malaysia Qualifier Nova Esports (Malaysia) | 7 Southeast Asia Malaysia Qualifier All Gamers Global (Malaysia) | 8 Southeast Asia Wildcard Qualifier Impunity (Myanmar) | 9 Southeast Asia Americas Qualifier Alpha7 Esports (Brazil) | 10 Southeast Asia Europe Qualifier Team Vitality (Italy) | 11 Southeast Asia MENA Qualifier Gen.G Esports (Morocco) | 12 Southeast Asia JPKR Qualifier Nongshim Redforce (South Korea) |
HoK Invitational S3 format and prize pool
The HoK Championship 2024 features a total prize pool of $300,000 that will be allocated to all participating teams based on their final rankings, with the detailed distribution as below:
- 1st Place: $100,000
- 2nd Place: $50,000
- 3rd-4th Place: $25,000
- 5th-8th Place: $15,000
- 9th-12th Place: $10,000
The tournament will be divided into two stages: Group Stage and Knockout Stage.
Group Stage
During the Group Stage, 12 teams will be split into four groups of three teams. Each group will randomly be made up of one seeded team (Blacklist International/Bigetron Sigma/Nova Esports/Alpha7 Esports) and two unseeded teams. Each match will be played in a single round-robin best-of-five format.
The top two teams of each group advance to the Knockout Stage, while the last team of each group is eliminated from the tournament.
Knockout Stage
Eight Teams will be placed in a Single Elimination Bracket. Group Winners will be seeded for the Knockout Stage. Teams from the same group during the Group Stage will not be drawn against each other for the Quarterfinals. All matches will be held as a best-of-seven, with Ultimate Battle Rules to be implemented.
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Ultimate Battle
HoK tournaments use a special rule for the final game of a best-of-seven in Game 7, called Ultimate Battle. During Ultimate Battle, a mirror hero selection is allowed, and the hero previously effected by Global Ban is available to be used again (blind draft).
After the game is tied by 3:3, the referee will call upon the head coach of both teams to the center of the venue. The head coach, assistant coaches, analyst, and other staff will be allowed on the stage. The team will discuss and make their draft within three minutes. Afterwards, the head coach must submit the hero lineups and challenger spells to the referee, and then leave the stage.
Each team's hero lineups and challenger spells will not be visible to the opponent team until the game starts. The players must follow the hero lineups and challenger spells submitted by their coach.
Global Ban & Pick
Global Ban & Pick, also known as Fearless Draft, is a drafting format first used in the playoff stage of the King Pro League (KPL) Fall 2018. In this format, a team can only pick a hero once throughout the entire series.
A player would therefore be required to master at least seven to nine heroes to complete a best-of-seven series, due to the inability to repeat a hero selection and also the additional bans imposed during the drafting phase.
HoK Invitational S3 location, schedule, and how to watch
Group Stage
- Location: SM City North EDSA, Manila, Philippines
- Schedule: Feb. 21-24
Knockout Stage
- Location: SM City North EDSA, Manila, Philippines
- Schedule:
- Quarterfinals: Feb. 26-27
- Semifinals: Feb. 28
- Grand Finals: Mar. 1
Aside from watching live at the venue, fans worldwide can also watch the tournament online, as it is being streamed on various streaming sites including YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, and Facebook Live. Additionally, players can also watch the tournament through the HoK in-game feature.
Stay tuned on esports.gg for more information regarding the HoK Invitational S3.
