The Best Team in worlds, Hanwha Life Esports

First Stand Tournament 2025 | Grand Finals | HLE vs KC 2set

Hello, the first international tournament of the year, First Stand, has concluded with HLE’s victory.

Did you all enjoy watching it?

Personally, I found it a bit disappointing that the schedule was short and there weren’t many teams participating.

However, I watched HLE has fully proven why they are the champions.

So today, to commemorate HLE’s victory, let’s take a look at how they lifted the trophy.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The first scene is about the early object situation.

3:30~

KC Bot Duo trusted Ivern’s move, pushed the wave first, and recalled. Meanwhile, HLE chose to recall despite losing lane priority. (although loss their some CS)

The reason HLE opted to recall at this moment was:

• Skarner had already move to top (since Gnar had clearer lane prio).

• Ivern’s exact location was unknown.

• They were aware that KC Yike is skilled at early Ivern ganks.

So HLE Peanut can clear 9 camp and buy good item for grubs fight

Additionally, if KC wanted the first grubs, they would need to lane swap (since KC lacked top lane prio). HLE Bot Duo sacrificed half of the wave to block KC’s lane swap.

Additionally, HLE’s Zeus maintained proper lane control and utilized teleport effectively, allowing HLE to secure clear dominance in the top side.

so HLE could get 3 grubs

HLE Bot Duo played well although KC Yike gank pressure

so HLE could get all early obeject

There were several reasons behind HLE’s objective control, but the key factors were:

• Understanding matchups and maintaining prio in lane

• Precise objective time check and proper lane distribution

• Tempo management with minimizing losses while maximizing gains through efficient snowballing

These elements were crucial to their success.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The second scene is HLE’s mid-game macro, utilizing objectives effectively.

16:00 ~

KC killed Braum and pushed Gnar away, using this advantage to attempt Herald. However, due to a misjudgment in object control, they give the Herald to HLE.

17:30 ~

HLE resets to prepare for the next tempo, aiming to utilize the Herald effectively.

(As seen from the ward placements, Braum preemptively invests vision for Gnar, then returns with additional wards after resetting.)

Meanwhile, Skarner clears camps while covering Aurora’s side, ensuring a stable side-lane setup.

As soon as Ivern’s position is revealed, Skarner abandons the Gromp camp and moves to the bot side alongside Braum.

Meanwhile, Gnar steps back to assess the situation, and Aurora continuously requests vision to be secured in the bot side.

Since KC Yike and KC Targamas were spotted on the top side (though not visible in the picture), HLE boldly pushed forward vision control in the mid -bot lanes while simultaneously having Gnar hide for a tempo to disrupt KC’s tempo.

At the same time, since Gnar was hiding, using a turn on the top side became less meaningful for KC, so they quickly moved to cover the bottom side (KC Yike / KC Targamas).

As the bot lane moves in, HLE Zeus begins to push.

KC has two choices:

1. Accept the lost in the bot lane and move to stop Gnar’s side pressure.
2. Cover the bot lane, allowing Gnar to remain free side push (since Gnar has Teleport available while Aatrox does not, meaning that in a major fight at the bot lane, only Gnar would be able to join).

KC chose top cover + kill Gnar

As a result, Gnar and the bot lane’s Tier 2 turret were traded for the dragon and Hwei. (The top Tier 1 turret was covered by Aurora’s Teleport and the bot lane’s quick reset.)

This was a showcase of HLE’s experienced macro play, with HLE Zeus’s movements standing out in particular.

• Understanding of side lanes
• Awareness of side lane positioning
• Snowballing strategy
• Effective map reading

Despite having the same number of kills, this level of macro play led to a 5,000 gold lead and overwhelming objective control. It was a dominant display, proving that HLE was completely ahead of KC in every aspect.

With this, HLE secured their first international tournament victory, showcasing an impressive performance that raises expectations for their future.

Looking forward to HLE’s continued success, we conclude today’s analysis.

Finally, we’ve concluded today’s match analysis. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or on Discord. also If there’s a specific match or topic you’d like to see analyzed in more detail, feel free to send me a DM on Discord or X anytime!

Discord — Wishindongseok X — @Wishindongseok

I’ll be back with a more interesting match next time. Thanks for reading :)