In what can be regarded as a shocking start for the knockout stage, Team Secret must play through the lower bracket after a loss against Blacklist International.
Image courtesy of Honor of Kings
Team Secret, shockingly, dropped down to the lower bracket of Honor of Kings Championship 2024 knockouts after being defeated by Blacklist International in the opening match of the first day. The confidence of Blacklist International paid off when they endured the Malaysian team's aggressiveness in all five games, for in the end, they won the series 3-2.
In the first game Filipino's team strategy wasn't cleanly executed as small mistakes happened here and there, allowing Team Secret to pounce on and take control of the game. In the end, these mistakes bite back to Blacklist International and give their opponent a chance to end, which they took advantage of superbly.
The second and the third game were a show of Blacklist International's prowess in defensive strategy as they completely shut any attempt of aggressiveness by the Malaysian team. They planned to prolong the game until they were confident enough to end the game, and it worked as Team Secret lost composure and got pounced on by Blacklist International twice in a row to make the score 2-1 advantage for the Philippines representatives.
Team Secret still had an ace on their sleeve in the fourth game. Guan Yu. The hero enabled a super-aggressive dive composition with Zhang Fei, Shangguan, Menki, and Arli as the follow-up to his jump. This comp surprised Chazz's Lian Po as he couldn't control everyone simultaneously. Ultimately, the Malaysia representatives got a crucial win to force a game 5.
The script was flipped for the last game as Blacklist International abandoned their defensive hyper-tanky lineup into a more magic-damage-oriented control comp with a Jungle Yuhuan, Mayene, and Lady Zhen. The role of splitting the opposition was left to Chazz's Zhang Fei as he abandoned Goldenk1te's Arli to her own to control the enemy backline. This strategy worked perfectly as Team Secret was beaten and broken to a pulp, leaving them with a shutout. Blacklist International took a step further into the upper bracket semi-final.
The other match on day 1 was between Dominator Esports and Team Falcons, as the last Indonesian team destroyed the MENA representatives to a 3-0 loss. This loss means Team Falcons dropped down to the lower bracket as Dominator will face Blacklist International in the semi-final.
The Honor of Kings Championship 2024 will continue on day 2, with two matches featuring Black Shrew Esports, Nova Esports, Fearless Esports, and BOOM Esports. The first match will be a bout between Fearless Esports and BOOM Esports, with the Battle of Malaysia feature after.
