Honor of Kings tournament rules
Last updated 24 October 2026
Based on the official Honor of Kings esports rules and adapted for Zenith events. The general tournament rules also apply, and where a tournament page sets its own details, the tournament page applies.
Format and roster
- Teams play 5 starters, with up to 2 substitutes. The roster is locked once submitted.
- Games are played on Hero’s Gorge in tournament rooms. The tournament page shows whether each match is best of 1, 3, 5 or 7.
- Substitutions between games must be agreed with a referee no later than 5 minutes after the previous game ends. Substitutions during a game are allowed only for emergencies.
- Surrendering is not allowed. Play every game to the end.
Draft (ban and pick)
- Order: Blue ban, Red ban, Blue ban, Red ban; Blue pick, Red picks 2, Blue picks 2, Red pick; Red ban, Blue ban, Red ban, Blue ban; Red pick, Blue picks 2, Red pick; then hero trades.
- Each action has 30 seconds, the final picks have 45 seconds, and hero trades have 20 seconds.
- Global Ban&Pick: a hero a team has used in an earlier game of the match cannot be picked by that team again in the same match.
- The Help Pick feature is not allowed. Mistakes during the draft, such as a wrong tap or a missed timer, are not reset.
Sides
- Game 1 sides are decided by coin toss.
- For each later game, the team that lost the previous game chooses Blue or Red within 2 minutes. If they do not, the organisers decide.
Pauses and remakes
- Valid reasons to pause: a disconnection from the game or voice chat, ping of 100 ms or higher, or sudden illness or injury.
- Ask for a pause straight away and tell the organisers why. Players cannot unpause the game themselves.
- If a game is remade, statistics from before the remake are discarded and the organisers decide whether the draft is kept.
- Deliberate disconnections never justify a pause.
Devices
- Play on a phone or tablet. Emulators on PC or any non-handheld device are not allowed.
- Controllers, keyboards, mice and adapters need organiser approval.
- Organisers may restrict heroes, skins or items with known bugs for the current version.
Lateness
- Up to 5 minutes late: warning.
- 5 to 15 minutes late: the team loses its bans in the first game.
- More than 15 minutes late: the team forfeits the first game. More than 30 minutes late: the team forfeits the match.
Prohibited
- Cheating, modified clients, signalling devices and any gesture that gives an unfair advantage.
- Using bugs or abusing game mechanics on purpose.
- Playing on another person’s account, boosting, collusion and match fixing.
- Insulting or harassing anyone in game chat.
Official sources
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