Hanwha Life Esports will contest the MSI 2026 Grand Final. They defeated LYON 3-2 in Saturday's Lower Bracket Final in Daejeon — but the scoreline undersells how close they came to losing. The LCS first seed led 2-1 before HLE steadied and ran away with a one-sided decider. LYON exit in third place, the best international finish for an LCS side since 2019. Here are our player ratings of the series.
The most consistent player on HLE's side of the map across all five games. Zeus rarely lost his lane, even in unfavourable match-ups, and his wave management and teleport timings were among the cleanest of the series. Throughout the games, he went +13 CS diff@15, +632 Gold diff@15 and +939XP diff @ 15 against Dhokla. In teamfights, he offered exactly what HLE needed — sharp positioning, clean engages, reliable peel. His Aatrox teamfight in Game 5 was unbelievable: left at 1 HP on the bot side, he kept testing the limits of what his opponents could punish and single-handedly turned the fight in HLE's favour. When the rest of the roster wobbled, Zeus was often the one keeping HLE alive.
A Bo5 that captured everything about Kanavi's profile. When ahead — as on his Vi and Naafiri games — he was unplayable, diving every lane and winning every 2v2. When behind, the structure collapsed: forced invades without lane priority, coin-flipped drakes, fights sent without setup. His Nocturne game was particularly rough. HLE's draft corrections from Game 4 onwards gave him cleaner conditions, and he responded.
A series that started in his opponent's shadow and ended in apotheosis. Early in the Bo5, Zeka was out-impacted by Saint — his Orianna overwhelmed by the Akali, his Yone outshone in teamfights. But the climb was steady, game after game, culminating in a decisive Game 5 Ahri where every LYON error was punished. When it clicks, he does things very few mids can do — his laning was excellent throughout, drawing jungle pressure without ever paying for it — and with Zeus and Kanavi, he is who tipped the series.
A series well below his standard. Gumayusi's positioning was repeatedly questionable, his ultimates and Flashes poorly spent, and he took too many risks into LYON's engage threats. His Kog'Maw game was the low point — bullied in lane, he never reached the stage where the pick takes over, and finished 1/7/4. Like his team, though, he finished the Bo5 on a far more positive note — Games 4 and 5 were much cleaner, right when HLE needed them to be.
A performance full of contrasts. Delight gave away several avoidable deaths that handed LYON tempo — and HLE's bot lane looked undisciplined as a unit for stretches of the series. But his creation was constant: his roams held Game 1 together and his Game 5 Blitzcrank strung together decisive hooks — saving Zeus, catching Saint and Isles at perfect timings. Enormous playmaking, not quite enough stability.
Dhokla delivered a very solid Bo5 — until he ran into the ceiling. He sometimes offered good teamfight utility on Gwen and Gragas. The exploitable flaw remained: he died too often once a jungler committed to his side lane, and Kanavi's top-side camping in Games 3 and 4 made it untenable. More facilitator than carry — and in Game 5, simply outclassed by one of the best toplaner in the tournament.
The best player of the series on LYON's side. Inspired's pathing and reading of Kanavi's jungle were exceptional, his objective control near-flawless, and his mechanics decisive — the Lee Sin flash-kicks and flank angles were masterclass material. Even in LYON's losses, he was the one finding the miracle fight — soul flips, sneaky elders — to keep his team in the series. Mistakes were rare enough that a single catch stood out. He was the engine of LYON's run in this Bo5.
At his best, Saint was spectacular: a fed Akali gapping Zeka, a really clean Viktor game — a Game 3 that LYON won largely on the back of his dragon teamfights. His wave manipulation and pressure in lane were excellent, his flank angles and fight tempo genuinely high level. But the inconsistency is real — games where he got caught for free, moments where he stopped respecting HLE's tempo, and a Game 5 in which Zeka punished every error. But he proved he can trade blows with international-calibre mids.
Berserker's 2v2 lane was monstrous on several maps — his Lucian/Nami and Ezreal games in particular — and he converted small edges into resources at speed; a fed Berserker was the worst-case scenario HLE spent the series trying to avoid. His fight management in Games 2 and 3 belonged at the very top level. But the domination didn't last — LYON's bot lane couldn't keep its grip in Games 4 and 5 and got torn apart when it mattered most. Very high highs, very low lows — a confirmed international-calibre ADC who couldn't sustain it across five games.
The quietest member of LYON's roster, and the clearest gap to close. Isles produced real value in stretches — clutch Poppy W's in Game 1, good peel for Berserker, some clean mid-series engages, and genuine synergy with Inspired. But the misses accumulated: whiffed hooks, hesitant or failed engages, inconsistent positioning around vision. The pattern was clear — when Saint, Berserker and Inspired were peaking, Isles held the line; when HLE's level rose in the final two games, he was outclassed.
