PKL Spring 2026 opening week recap: BLCK, BOOM top standings, Fleur’s return, new format introduced
MANILA, Philippines – Blacklist International and Boom Esports end the PKL Spring 2026 opening week with a spotless record to stay on top of the standings.
The former Fall 2025 and Spring 2025 champions, respectively, maintained their dominant status to end the week with six points each following a 2-0 match-win record. Meanwhile, rookies, Finesse, found their first wins of the regular season as Rough World Era, Team Nemesis PH, and Team Flash PH failed to find momentum.
Fleur’s return after historic women’s championship run
Homer “Fleur” Matol returns with Rough World Era after notably missing during PKL Fall 2025. However, during his absence, he has been coaching the all women’s team, Hyve All Star, and led them to a successful run during the Honor of Kings Women’s Series 3.
Their win marked the Philippines’ first international championship in Honor of Kings. It is the first time Fleur has coached a team.
In PKL Spring 2025, Rough World Era finished in fourth place. They went on to represent the Philippines in the Kings International Tournament 2025 Season 3 and finished ninth to 12th place.
New year, new format, new stars
The Honor of Kings PKL Spring 2026 introduces a new format featuring a total of 10 teams and a best-of-five regular season. Last year, eight teams participated in the league with four invited squads, while the others were from the Open Qualifiers.
Invited squads this year include Blacklist International, Boom Esports, JGame Esports (formerly Barcode), Team Flash PH, TNT Tropang Alab, and WETRND Esports. Finess, archives, Rough World Era, and Team Nemesis PH participated in the Open Qualifiers.
The regular season is a single round-robin and will run until March 28, 2026 with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs.
