Sibol Honor of Kings squad's 'last dance' ends with Asiad bronze

MANILA, Philippines — One last run together ended with an Asian Games medal for the Philippines’ Honor of Kings (HOK) squad.

Under the banner of the country's national esports team, Sibol, the Filipino gamers took home a bronze medal in the 20th Asian Games after bowing to defending champion China, 0-2, in the semifinals Monday at the Aichi Sky Expo.

But beyond adding another medal to the country’s esports haul, the campaign also marked a final run together for a group of players who had spent much of their professional careers as teammates.

The Sibol HOK squad reunited the former Blacklist International core months after the organization withdrew from the Philippine Kings League ahead of the Fall 2026 season.

The team's departure scattered the former teammates across the league, with Juschie Tan, Charles Esguerra and Dragon Dajao moving to TNT Tropang Alab; Golden Dajao joining Titan Esports Club; and Chammy Nazarrea signing with Boom Esports. Meanwhile, former head coach Gerard Gelacio had taken a break from the pro scene.

The Asian Games offered them one more opportunity to play alongside each other, this time for the Philippines.

“Yung naglaro kami together ulit. Yun yung pinaka-memorable sa akin kasi ‘di na kami magkaka-team sa PKL, pero ngayon magkaka-team kami para ipaglaban yung Pilipinas. Masaya na medyo malungkot. Malungkot kasi last dance na talaga, hanggang dito na lang. Masaya naman kasi kahit ‘di na kami magkaka-team, andoon pa rin yung closeness namin with each other, and may na-achieve pa kami na medal. So super happy talaga,” said Tan.

The reunion produced one final podium finish for a core that had already enjoyed success together under Blacklist.

The team won the PKL Fall 2025 championship and made several deep international runs, including a third-place finish at the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 and a top-four showing at the Honor of Kings International Championship.

In Aichi, under the banner of the national esports team, the former Blacklist squad finished second in Pool B after sweeping Kazakhstan and falling to Malaysia before beating South Korea, 2-0, in the quarterfinals to assure itself of a medal.

China proved to be the end of the road, sweeping the Filipinos in the semifinals to deny them a spot in the gold-medal match.

Still, head coach Gelacio was proud of what his players accomplished in their final tournament together.

“Sobrang proud pa rin ako sa mga players ko kasi nakakuha pa rin kami ng medal and history ‘yun kasi mahirap din yung nakalaban namin sa semis which is yung top contender na China. Sobrang happy pa rin kami sa na-achieve namin dito sa Asian Games,” said Gelacio.

For the former head coach of Blacklist International, getting the group back together and ending its run with a medal made the final chapter worthwhile.

“Sobrang saya na nagsama-sama ulit kami for the last time. And sobrang worth it ng last dance namin kasi nakapag-uwi kami ng bronze medal para sa Pilipinas. Proud of the boys na ginawa pa rin nila lahat for the last time,” he added.

The bronze was the country’s second esports medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Games after the Sibol's Pokémon Unite squad also finished third.

The national esports team’s campaign continues Tuesday with its Identity V squad facing Indonesia at 9 a.m., with a quarterfinal berth at stake. The team had a slow start in their first group stage matches, losing 0-2 to both Thailand and Chinese Taipei in Pool A.