Gumayusi’s Sweet “Revenge” Against a “Painful Past”
Recently, HLE secured a victory against DNS, continuing their hopes for a strong ranking as the group stage of the LCK Cup 2026 comes to a close. Notably, the standout player in this match was none other than Gumayusi. The FMVP of the 2025 World Championship raised doubts among many due to HLE’s less-than-stellar early phase. The POM title after the match was a well-deserved reward for Gumayusi. However, looking back at the past, this victory means even more.
Specifically, on January 24-25 exactly one year ago, in 2025, during the second to third rounds of the LCK Cup, fans of Gumayusi and T1, as well as the League of Legends community in general, received the shocking news that Gumayusi had to sit on the bench. This was truly a shock since the LCK Cup 2025 was the first official tournament for the DOFGK lineup, and Gumayusi had just helped T1 successfully defend their World Championship title.
One year since that fateful day, which sparked numerous controversies within the League of Legends community, even leading to conflicts among T1 fans, with Gumayusi being the most affected, a lot has changed. Gumayusi’s “revenge” with a POM is more meaningful than ever.
But currently, Gumayusi still needs to perform even better
The victory is certainly good, not only for HLE but also for their players, as well as for all teams in the Elder group. HLE has set the best possible foundation before entering the final week of the LCK Cup 2026 group stage, which is also the decisive week, facing the currently strong opponent Gen.G.
Of course, at the moment, HLE fans may not dare to believe that “the Orange team” can defeat the reigning MSI champions. However, HLE must perform at their best to prove that they are truly a contender for the title and have genuinely overcome the period of instability.