BOOM Esports takes pride in all-Filipino roster as PH aims to keep pace in Honor of Kings

JAKARTA—BOOM Esports and Blacklist International are among the few teams competing in Honor of Kings Invitational Season 4 with fully local rosters.

For BOOM, this serves as proof that the Philippines is rapidly catching up to the competition in the fast-rising title.

“Kasi for the past tournaments, kung makikita n'yo po ‘yung ibang teams, meron silang mga imports kaya nahihirapan talaga mag-keep up ‘yung Pilipinas kasi the only country na walang import is ‘yung Philippines po,” BOOM’s Paul “Zaopi” Zagado told GMA News Online.

“Pero tignan n'yo naman, nag-i-improve at tumataas ‘yung placing every tournament.”

In the ongoing KIS4, both BOOM and Blacklist International are parading all-local rosters unlike most of the other teams.

Hometown teams Bigetron by Vitality and Dominator Esports have a Malaysian and Chinese players in their rosters while Malaysian clubs Nova Esports and Team HAQ are also fielding foreign players.

BOOM and Blacklist, though, have decided to stick with locals as they look to close the gap in Honor of Kings, which has been dominated by Malaysia for the past international tournaments.

“Kaya masasabi ko na nag-i-improve po ‘yung Pinas kasi parang feel ko ‘yung 'Pinas ay isa sa mga best countries for mobile esports,” Zaopi added.

With full-local rosters, BOOM and Blacklist have both clinched a spot in the KIS Season 4 Final Four and they look to arrange a rare all-Filipino grand finals.

Blacklist will take on Nova Esports in the semifinals at 4 p.m. while BOOM will slug it out with South Korea’s Nongshim RedForce at 8 p.m.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News