India has its Honor of Kings representative for the year-end world championship. S8UL earned that place by beating Revenant XSpark 4–0 in Mumbai on October 18. The domestic title is settled. The interesting question now is what happens when S8UL meet teams who have spent the season competing in stronger regional leagues.
The Honor of Kings International Championship (KIC) 2026 is scheduled for December, with 16 teams expected at the season-ending event. Organisers Level Infinite and TiMi Studios have confirmed the international championship as the closing major of the year. The host city, full draw and final match schedule had not been officially confirmed as of October 28.
A final that changed the story against Revenant XSpark
Revenant XSpark had beaten S8UL 4–1 in the Indian qualifier for the Honor of Kings World Cup back in May. This time, S8UL turned the rivalry around. They first beat Revenant 2–1 during the KIC qualification bracket, then met them again in the Mumbai final and won four straight games. The final was held at the Bombay Exhibition Centre during GamingCon Bharat, where the JioBLAST competition brought India’s top Honor of Kings teams together.
S8UL won all five of their series and dropped only one individual game across the run. Their results were 2–0 against Off Meta Gaming, 2–1 against Revenant XSpark, 2–0 against Avalanche, 3–0 against Reckoning Esports and 4–0 against Revenant in the final. The championship brought ₹1.5 lakh to S8UL from the Indian qualifier’s ₹5 lakh prize pool, but the more important reward was the international berth.
Who will represent India?
Aryan Gulati, known as TTranquil, captains the six-player roster. The Indian core includes Saurabh Jagadale (Kaeltzy), Harsh (Ch1pz) and Peerzada Syed Seyadat (Pluto). They are joined by Indonesian player Neville Garrick (Nev) and South Korea’s Min Kyung-hyun (Kyoung9), with Woodwind listed as head coach. It is an international mix, and the experience matters.
Nev and Kyoung9 have played at KIC before. Kyoung9 also competed at the 2019 Honor of Kings World Champion Cup and was runner-up at the Honor of Kings Invitational Season 3 in 2025. For the Indian players, December offers another chance to prove themselves outside the domestic circuit.
The teams waiting at KIC 2026
Brazil’s INFLUENCE RAGE, Indonesia’s Bigetron by Vitality and Rex Regum Qeon, and India’s S8UL were among the teams listed in the qualification tracker on October 28. Other places will be filled through regional competitions, including the Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine leagues. These are possible opponents, not confirmed S8UL fixtures: the draw has not yet been announced.
KIC is expected to bring together 16 teams in December. An earlier official Honor of Kings esports announcement confirmed that number, but the precise venue, bracket and broadcast timings remain pending. Some third-party listings display tentative dates and prize figures that are not consistent across sources, so those should not be treated as final organiser announcements.
What S8UL need to improve before December
The team have already had a difficult lesson at the highest level. At the Honor of Kings World Cup in July, S8UL lost 0–2 to INFLUENCE RAGE and 0–2 to FUT Esports in the play-in stage. Those results are more useful preparation than a comfortable domestic win. KIC will demand cleaner drafts, quicker responses when early-game plans fail and better adaptation between games.
The Mumbai final showed how much progress S8UL have made against a familiar rival. But international teams will arrive with different hero priorities, faster rotations and more experience in long tournament runs. Nev and Kyoung9 can help bridge that gap; the challenge is making the entire lineup consistent against opponents they have not played every month.
There is still time to prepare. The Indian championship was a deserved celebration, but it was also the beginning of a tougher assignment. S8UL have earned their place at KIC. Now they have to show how far India’s Honor of Kings scene has come.
