HLE reveals a critical weakness in their loss to T1
Recently, HLE faced another defeat against T1, marking their second consecutive loss since the 2025 KeSPA Cup finals. Sadly, this was the first official match where Gumayusi reunited with his former team, alongside teammates with whom he achieved some of the greatest glories of his career. Gumayusi was also the only shining star of HLE who truly performed at his peak. In contrast, Zeka has become HLE’s “fatal” weakness at this moment.
With the new meta, players like Zeka need to step up even more, but in all three games, the contribution from the former 2022 World Champion was far too limited. In fact, in games 2 and 3, Zeka was the reason HLE couldn’t recover. Even before the game reached the mid-point, Zeka had already accepted defeat against Faker on the opposite side.
Furthermore, Zeka’s underperformance in the Mid Lane also severely impacted the roaming, ganking, and supporting capabilities of the Jungle (Kanavi). Oner was consistently more proactive than Kanavi by 2 to 3 beats, thanks to Faker’s excellent game control. In game 1 alone, Faker was far more assertive than Zeka on multiple occasions, despite both having ultimates capable of influencing the entire map.
HLE needs to wake up immediately
The first match of the LCK Cup will not have too much negative impact on HLE’s ranking. The “Orange Team” last season also suffered a 0-2 whitewash against Gen.G on their opening day in the LCK Cup. However, this season, they must “wake up” immediately, as their weaknesses have begun to surface.
T1 has shown that they can present a very different face at the start of the season compared to previous years. But HLE, a team also filled with potential, needs to demonstrate that they are truly a “super team” rather than a disjointed lineup, playing individually as they did in their recent match against T1.