It was three days of intense competition, but only one team can emerge victorious. After close shaves in the playoffs and strong performances during the semifinals and beyond, Malaysian team Black Shrew Esports (BSE) is now the proud owner of the 2024 Honor of Kings Championship title.
Held from 25 to 27 October in Jakarta, Indonesia, the event (quarterfinals stage and beyond) saw the newly minted champions overwhelm their Indonesian counterparts and home favourite Dominator Esports (DMT) with a 4-0 victory in the grand finals. The team’s latest triumph comes after their recent trophy-lifting moment at last July’s Honor of Kings Invitational Season 2 tournament in Malaysia, where they participated as LGD Gaming MY.
But the road to victory wasn’t all smooth sailing. BSE, comprising top laner Han Siang “Siang” Lee, junglers Jimmy “Jimmy” Tan and Tat Yann “MusangKing” Chan, farm laner Ryan “JR” Na, mid laner Chee Hong “Zhihong” Lim, and support Li Zhe “Zhe” Low, survived an early scare against Nova Esports and Fearless Esports HK in the early stages, clawing their way to a 3-2 scoreline. The squad would later land their first win against DMT in the tournament with a score of 3-1, setting the stage for their landslide sweep in the finale.
“At first, we felt a lot of pressure [to perform], but the sense of satisfaction grew as we continued to play and win, and the audience’s cheers for DMT was like music to our ears,” shared JR in a brief post-match interview with Geek Culture.
The marksman was awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice during the evening: first as Sun Ce and then as his main hero, Arli, with teammate MusangKing claiming the Finals MVP accolade. As champions, BSE walked away with US$300,000 of the one million prize pool and bragging rights as the official king of kings.
The impressive feat not only puts Malaysia on the map, but also marks the country’s first world title in esports, capping things off on a celebratory note — and in more ways than one. While the MOBA title, short for multiplayer battle online arena, only launched worldwide earlier in June, it has already left a significant mark on the esports scene, feeding off its popularity in China, where it debuted in 2015 as Wangzhe Rongyao (王者荣耀), and other countries that saw pre-releases, including Brazil, the Middle East, and South Asia.
“I don’t think any game in its first year can reach this level, so we’re very proud of what we’ve done so far. However, we’re not proud enough yet, because we’re going to be much bigger next year,” said James Yang, director of Global Esports Centre at Tencent Games. “I can say that 2024 was a great year for Honor of King esports, and the competitiveness levels of all the pro teams have been increasing dramatically.”
Indeed, there’s plenty in store for its future. The third season of the Invitational will kick off in spring 2025, while the mid-season leg is set for a return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the summer. A brand-new pro-league system is expected for the Major East and West tournaments, with more information to come in due time.
Beyond the realm of competition, Honor of Kings is gearing up for a new roster addition in the upcoming year. Honouring the spirit of the 2024 Championships, the mobile game will introduce its first localised Indonesian hero Garuda Khageswara in early 2025, following an appearance on Secret Level, the animated anthology series from Amazon MGM Studios and Blur Studio.
The adult-animated show will be available for streaming on Prime Video on 19 October and chronicles 15 original short stories set across various video games, including Honor of Kings. The featured episode centres on genius Weiqi master Yixing, poised to join as a new playable character this December. According to game director John Zhang, the plan is to fill out its lineup with existing heroes and skins from the original Chinese release, such that the gap between both versions can be bridged by the next year. No specific window was given, however.
The 2024 Honor of Kings Championships kicked off on 12 October, with playoffs taking place from 18 to 19 October, and 25 to 27 October. More notably, it’s the first World Championship-equivalent tournament to exclude Chinese teams, who will participate in the KPL Grand Finals instead. This shift comes as the global ecosystem continues to find the right balance and keep its doors open to reintroducing Chinese teams into the international circuit someday.
As for this year’s affair, an electrifying atmosphere washed over the crowd across all three days, especially during victorious moments on home ground. Adding to the MOBA fever are cosplayers dressed as various heroes, including Dyadia, Mayene, Dolia, Mai Shiranui, and Ying.
The finalised list of team rankings and prize distribution is as follows:
| Place | Prize money | Participating team |
| 1st | US$300,000 | Black Shrew Esports |
| 2nd | US$160,000 | Dominator Esports |
| 3rd | US$100,000 | Team Secret |
| 4th | US$80,000 | Nova Esports |
| 5th – 6th | US$60,000 | Fearless Esports HK Blacklist International |
| 7th – 8th | US$40,000 | Team Falcons BOOM Esports |
| 9th – 12th | US$25,000 | Mahadewa Team Vitality Alpha7 Esports Impunity |
| 13th – 16th | US$15,000 | FUT Esports Kagrendra Influence Rage Revenant Esports |
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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