HLE is on the brink of qualifying for the World Championship. T1 is one game loss away from being knocked down to the Lower Bracket of the LCK Playoffs. HLE put T1 on a timer with their final draft pick of Smolder. Viper would be the one to delay the game long enough for him to come online. HLE has qualified for the World Championship, while T1 must wait in the Lower Bracket for their next attempt.
LCK 2025: HLE Take a Risk With Smolder
Smolder is rising to answer the Yunara problem that teams have had to deal with. GenG attempted it yesterday, but were unsuccessful. On match point, HLE is taking that risk, giving Gumayusi the chance to carry on Yunara. Can HLE stall long enough to ensure the Smolder carries?
T1 Composition
- Doran – Gragas
- Oner – Qiyana
- Faker – Cassiopeia
- Gumayusi – Yunara
- Keria – Rakan
HLE Composition
- Zeus – Jax
- Peanut – Xin Zhao
- Zeka – Sylas
- Viper – Smolder
- Delight – Alistar
LCK 2025: HLE Shows a New Lane Swap Method
HLE began the game by putting Viper’s Smolder laning into Doran. They sent Zeus botlane with Delight. While the lane swap had little effect on the sidelanes, it would be Faker who would lose out. After laneswap detection dropped, Delight moved midlane to gank Faker. He burnt Faker’s flash and would return minutes later with Peanut to get first blood on the midlaner for T1.
LCK 2025: Viper Smolder Saves the Day
After a tense fight for T1’s Chemtech Drake soul, Viper stood off alone against 3 T1 members. The Drake was still alive, but low on health. Oner did not have smite, and all three T1 players were low health. Viper managed to secure the Drake, killing Oner, but inevitably fell to Faker. The steal gave HLE enough time to stall for Smolder. The frontline of HLE would prove too much for T1 to get through. HLE wins the series 3-0.
Game Three Ratings
HLE
- Zeus – 7
- Peanut – 7
- Zeka – 7
- Viper – 9
- Delight – 7
T1
- Doran – 5
- Oner – 5
- Faker – 6
- Gumayusi – 7
- Keria – 5
Player of the Game – Viper
Series Ratings
HLE
- Zeus – 7.3
- Peanut – 7.7
- Zeka – 7.3
- Viper – 8.0
- Delight – 7.0
T1
- Doran – 5.3
- Oner – 4.7
- Faker – 5.0
- Gumayusi – 7.0
- Keria – 5.7
Player of the Series – Viper
HLE Completes a Shocking Weekend
After KT took down GenG yesterday, chaos has ensued in the LCK. HLE, with the 3-0 series victory, has qualified for the World Championship as at least the third seed. They will face KT in the Upper Bracket Final. T1 is knocked down to the Lower Bracket, where they await the winner of Dplus and FearX. There, they have one more chance to qualify for the World Championship.
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