BOOM Esports misses HOK Invitationals S3 after Rough World Era upset

BOOM Esports misses HOK Invitationals S3 after Rough World Era upset

MANILA – Renowned Honor of Kings (HOK) contending team BOOM Esports will sit out the upcoming HOK Invitational Season 3 in February as newcomers Rough World Era take the last Filipino spot available in the lower bracket semifinals.

RWE’s farm laner Dani went berserk as he took all three MVPs after leading Rough World Era to a resounding 3-0 sweep against the HOK Championship 2024 contenders.

Dani’s Lady Zhen put up two kills and five assists as the won in a close 10-9 affair, pulling away in the midgame after Toshi’s lane was exposed.

BOOM had a better Game 2 as they held the lead until late game when Fleur’s Lian Po sets up a play against four BOOM members after taking down the Shadow Overlord, leaving only Tatsurii and Impressive to defend to their demise.

RWE flipped the script in Game 3 as they pulled away earlier in the midgame, taking down Impressive first with Arise’s Lam and scrambling any attempts of a BOOM team-up.

Arise had a prolific showing in the last minute of Game 3 as they forced BOOM to a five-against-four team fight, only for the RWE jungler to execute a backdoor play from the top lane and called game.

Elevate secures rematch with Blacklist in Grand Finals

Rough World Era’s charge however didn’t last long as fellow open qualifier winners Elevate shut them down in a 3-1 defeat.

Elevate managed to get first blood in Game 1, getting the upper hand in the 13th minute as they took the Shadow Overlord after forcing an outnumbered RWE to retreat, with Ivalice’s Cai Yan assisting 22 total kills and getting two of his own.

RWE equalized in Game 2 as Arise’s Pei was unstoppable with six kills and five assists in a 16-6 outburst against Elevate.

Despite having a greater kill score in 11 minutes, Elevate had a rough Game 3 against Rough World, only securing the lead after taking down the Shadow Overlord and never looked back with Mitsura’s Gan & Mo’s 9/1/4 KDA getting the MVP nod.

Rough World Era ran out of steam in Game 4 as they suffered a 16-3 demolition, with Ajizix’s Augran getting eight kills and assisting four, while Ivalice’s Zhang Fei assisted 11 without a single death.

Elevate will have a rematch against Blacklist International on Saturday to determine the strongest team in competitive HOK in the country to end the year.