HOK Invitationals S3 PH qualifiers now underway, four teams grab maiden wins
HOK Invitationals S3 PH qualifiers now underway, four teams grab maiden wins
MANILA – Four teams have started their Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 Philippines Qualifiers on the right track as the local qualifying tournament starts on Friday.
Elevate, Team Flash PH, BOOM Esports, and Blacklist International had secured wins in their first best-of-three series to qualify for the upper bracket semifinals on Saturday.
Elevate rises against Eureka
Open qualifier entrants Elevate began their run as they squeak past Team Eureka in a full three-game series to start the qualifiers.
However, it wasn’t the ideal start that they were hoping as Eureka snowballed from the fourth minute and didn’t looked back with Haru’s Dun Xiaohu put up five kills and assisted 13 without a single death.
Ajizix stepped up from the clash lane as he led Elevate to a reverse sweep, winning Games 2 and 3 with a 4/1/10 using the Menki and a flawless 2/0/3 statline with the dreaded Augran.
Team Flash PH extinguishes Tropang Alab’s flames
TNT Tropang Alab and Team Flash PH exchanged fire with fire as they also went the distance in their first round affair.
TFPH’s midlaner Nitsua led his team to a Game 1 snowball with his Lady Zhen, tallying four kills and assisting eight while Kirvsuuu’s Marco Polo led the kill department with seven.
The Talk N’ Text team however showed they can fight back, avoiding another snowball in the early game and took the Tempest Dragon to tie the series.
TNT tried to extend the decider game again but a missed play from Calm’s Dharma costed them the game as Flash PH took down two more and force TNT to defend to their demise.
Rough start for Rough World, BOOM keeps on booming
Rough World Era’s start in the HOK scene didn’t went as planned as Toshi and the rest of BOOM Esports put up an impressive 2-1 series victory.
Malaysian clash laner 7Gin led RWE to a Game 1 win as hi Mi Yue grabbed eight kills and assisted seven as he limited Miggie’s impact in the 15-minute fight.
Returnee player Toshi showed why he’s one of the best farm laners in the game as his Arli’s 7/2/10 performance carried BOOM to tie the series 1-1, while Karlll’s Dun Xiaohu netted seven kills and assisted 14 as well.
BOOM had to fight back in the third game, needing a Miggie’s game-winning set to take out three RWE players out and forced 7Gin to fight back to their demise in the 17th minute, with Toshi’s Loong getting a 19.0 KDA game.
Blacklist’s smooth operation
Blacklist International made quick work of open qualifier entrants Revamp as they send a message to the rest of the board.
The Agents needed only 10 kills in eight minutes as they completely dominate Revamp, with Juschie tallying three kills and five assists.
The HOK Championship 5th-6th placers went up a notch as they put up a 15-0 scoreline in eight minutes to sweep the series unblemished as Chammy1 stepped up with a 7/0/6 output from his Sun Ce.
Two teams to bow out tomorrow
The four losing teams will fight it out in the lower bracket first round, with the two losers going out of contention for the right to represent Philippines in the upcoming Honor of Kings Invitationals Season 3 in February.
Eureka will try to bounce back against TNT Tropang Alab as Ribo and Stronger will face off against Vane and company, while Rough World Era and Revamp will contest it out in a battle between open qualifier winners.
In the upper bracket semifinals, Elevate will try to elevate once more against contenders Team Flash PH for a spot in the international tournament, while Blacklist and BOOM will rekindle their rivalry again, this time with one team going down to the lower bracket and the winner to take the spot in the HOK Invitationals.
Catch their games on their official Facebook and YouTube streams.