Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025: Teams, format, and more 

The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 will start on February 21, 2025. Twelve teams worldwide will compete in the tournament for a massive $3,00,000 prize pool. Philippines will host the tournament for the first time at SM North Edsa, Metro Manila. Season 3 will introduce a new Global Ban and Pick system, spicing up the competition among the participants.

Below are the details of the HoK Invitational Season 3, including the names of the qualified teams, the tournament format, new systems, and the prize pool.

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Qualified teams for the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3

Qualified teams for the HoK Invitational Season 3 (Image via Level Infinite)

Twelve teams will compete in the Honor of Kings Invitational season 3 2025. Two teams from Malaysia, two teams from Indonesia, and three teams from the Philippines have qualified for the tournament. One team from Japan & South Korea region, one from the Middle East & North Africa region, and one from the Americas (including Brazil) have secured the spot. Lastly, one team will join as a Wild Card competitor in the tournament.

See the table below for the list of teams that have qualified from each region:

Region	Qualified teams
The Philippines	Blacklist International Elevate Rough World Era
Indonesia	Bigetron Esports Kagendra
Malaysia	Nova Esports All Games Global
Japan & South America	Nongshim Redforce
Middle East & North America	Gen.G Esports
Europe	Team Vitality
Americas	Alpha 7 Esports
Wild Card competitor	Immunity Esports

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Format of the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025

The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 tournament will commence on February 21 and conclude with the final match on March 21, 2025, at 14:00 GMT+8. Twelve teams will be divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D.

Level Infinite held the group draw live on the title’s official Esports YouTube channel on February 13, 2025, at 19:00 GMT+8. Here are the results:

Group A

• Blacklist International
• Elevate
• Gen.G Esports

Group B

• Alpha 7 Esports
• Team Vitality
• All Gamers Global

Group C

• Nova Esports
• Impunity Esports
• Kagendra

Group D

• Bigetron Esports
• Rough World Era
• Nongshim RedForce

In the group stage, each team plays a best-of-five (Bo5) single round-robin within its group. The group stage starts on February 21 and concludes on February 24, 2025. Fans can spectate three matches every day during the group stage. Here is the match schedule for the group stage:

Day 1 (February 21, 2025)

• Rough World Era vs Nongshim Redforce (at 14:00 GMT+8)
• Team Vitality vs Alpha 7 Esports (at 17:00 GMT+8)
• Gen.G Esports vs Elevate (at 20:00 GMT+8)

Day 2 (February 22, 2025)

• Impunity Esports vs Kagendra (at 14:00 GMT+8)
• Bigetron Esports vs Nongshim RedForce (at 17:00 GMT+8)
• Elevate vs Blacklist International (at 20:00 GMT+8)

Day 3 (February 23, 2025)

• All Gamers Global vs Alpha 7 Esports (at 14:00 GMT+8)
• Nova Esports vs Kagendra (at 17:00 GMT+8)
• Blacklist International vs Gen.G Esports (at 20:00 GMT+8)

Day 4 (February 24, 2025)

• All Gamers Global vs Team Vitality (at 14:00 GMT+8)
• Nova Esports vs Impunity Esports (at 17:00 GMT+8)
• Bigetron Esports vs Rough World Era (at 20:00 GMT+8)

Eight teams — the top two from each group — will advance to the knockout stage, which will be held from February 26 to February 28, 2025. The teams will compete against each other in a best-of-seven (Bo7) single-elimination format.

The tournament concludes on March 1, 2025, with the final match deciding the HoK Invitational Season 3 champion for 2025.

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New Systems in Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025

1) Global Ban and Pick system

Global Ban and Pick system introduction (Image via Level Infinite)

TiMi Studios will implement a new Global Ban and Pick system in the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025. The system was originally introduced in the KPL (King Premier League) in 2018, which limits a team to use a hero only once per match.

The table below shows the rules for the Global Ban and Pick system as announced on the HoK's official Esports website:

Rule 1	Heroes used in the previous Games cannot be used for the remaining Games. Each hero can only be used once per Team in a Match.
Rule 2	The referee will automatically ban heroes used in the previous Games and these heroes cannot be banned or picked during draft.
Rule 3	The usage limit of a hero applies to the Team as a whole, not individual players.

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2) Ultimate Battle system

In addition to the Global Ban and Pick, TiMi Studios will implement the Ultimate Battle system. The system will take effect if the match is tied to three-three between two teams in a Bo7 series.

The table below shows the rules of the Ultimate Battle system as announced on the HoK’s official Esports website:

Rule 1	After the crystal is destroyed, the Game 6’s losing team coach will have 60s to choose a side.
Rule 2	After the side selection, Coach and registered staff are allowed to come on stage for 3 minutes to complete the hero lineups and challenger spells sheet for Game 7. The time will start counting when the Coach comes to the stage, and the referee will give a signal for the countdown at 1 minute, 30 seconds, and 10 seconds. At the end of this period, the Coach must submit the sheets to the referees.
Rule 3	After the lineups are confirmed with referees, Coaches from both sides need to shake hands at the center of stage. Then both teams may go back to the waiting room for game break.
Rule 4	Game 7 will be played in Normal 5v5 mode with no Bans. Players must choose the same hero and use the challenger spells submitted.
Rule 5	A sanction, amounting to 30% of the Team's final prize pool earnings, will be imposed if players do not adhere to the submitted hero lineups and challenger spells. The Game must restart until the final lineups match the submission.
Rule 6	If a Team fails to submit the hero lineups and challenger spells within 3 minutes, the Team must use the lineup from Game 6 in Game 7.

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Prize pool and venue of the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025

The Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025 features a total prize pool of $300,000. It will be divided between teams based on their position. Below are the details:

• 1st position: $100,000
• 2nd position: $50,000
• 3rd to 4th position: $25,000
• 5th to 8th position: $15,000
• 9th to 12th position: $10,000

All Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 2025 matches will happen in The Block Atrium at North Avenue, Corner Epifanio De Los Santos Ave, Quezon City, 1100 Metro Manila, the Philippines.