Hanwha Life Esports had lost all of their last three LCK appearances—twice against Gen.G and once against T1—leaving them without a win for a while. But that streak is now broken, as
HLE took
a clean 2-0 victory over KT Rolster in a series that saw Park "
Viper" Do-hyeon secure the sixth pentakill of his career and Han "
Peanut" Wang-ho reach his 2000th career kill, more than ten years after his first.
In the day’s opening series within the Rise group, Dplus KIA also returned to winning ways with a clean 2-0 victory over BNK FearX. In Game 1, Heo "
ShowMaker" Su made Twisted Fate work—a pick that has struggled in recent international events—while in Game 2, it was Kim "Aiming" Ha-ram who took center stage, dealing over 38,000 damage on Jhin. The MVP honors went to the team’s midlaner, ShowMaker. Dplus KIA now sit at the top of their group with an 11-9 record.
HLE back in form
HLE hadn’t won a match since LCK Round 1-2, having dropped both of their Road to MSI series against Gen.G and T1, as well as their Round 3-5 opener—again to Gen.G. Their Esports World Cup run also fell short of expectations, making this victory over KT Rolster a much-needed boost. It helps HLE solidify their spot in the Legend Group standings, especially with T1 close behind.
In Game 1, the First Stand champions secured Varus for Viper, who ended the match with over 89% kill participation. Han "Peanut" Wang-ho also reached his 2000th LCK kill on Wukong. Game 2 wrapped up in under 29 minutes, capped off by another standout performance from Viper, who pulled off his sixth career pentakill—this time on Corki—to close out the series and bring HLE to a 15-5 record in the Legend Group, three wins ahead of T1, who still have a series in hand.
To wrap up this first week of LCK action, on Sunday, July 27, DN Freecs will look to secure their second win of the split as they face DRX in the Rise Group. Later in the day, around 10 AM CET, T1 will go up against Nongshim RedForce in the Legend Group—a team that handed them a 2-0 defeat in their last encounter. Given T1’s current strong form, this will be the perfect opportunity for revenge.
If you want to stay updated with the latest rosters and offseason moves, check out our
TransferHub and
Offseason Live Tracker.
Header Photo Credit: LCK/Riot Games
