Hanwha Life Esports Rise on Home Soil to Win MSI 2026
Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
Twice in two nights, Hanwha Life Esports were told the story was over. Twice, they refused to read it that way. In front of a sold-out Daejeon Convention Center that tipped into something close to a trance, HLE defeated Bilibili Gaming 3-2 in the Grand Final of MSI 2026 to lift the trophy on home soil. When the Nexus finally fell after a marathon that stretched past four hours, some fans in the stands broke down in tears.
The manner of it made the moment. Just as they had the night before against LYON, Hanwha Life fell behind 2-1 and clawed their way back to close out the series at the very last. It is the second international title in Hanwha Life Esports' history, following their First Stand crown last year, and the first MSI ever won by an LCK team on Korean ground.
Zeus, the problem BLG could not solve
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Choi "Zeus" Woo-je was named Finals MVP, and few could argue. The toplaner delivered masterful performances on Swain and Dr Mundo across the two decisive games, becoming the single biggest problem BLG had to manage. His presence and resilience in teamfights swung the series.
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The Dr Mundo pick in the fifth game was the boldest call of the night — Aatrox is widely seen as a rough matchup for Mundo, close to a hard counter. Speaking in the post-match press conference, Zeus explained the read behind it.
"I got the strong impression BLG really didn't want to give me certain champions. Aatrox almost never gets picked, so I think they locked it in just to stop me from playing Mundo," he said.
I'd never once played Mundo into Aatrox in my life, so I had no real certainty how well I'd hold up. I just had the feeling I could do it, so I went for it. The old me would probably have picked something safer.
That confidence rests on a shift in how he sees his role. "I don't think toplane influences wins that much on its own," Zeus explained. "But when a game is on a knife's edge, a toplaner stepping up once is really important. I used to just focus on winning my lane, but since last year I've thought about how to affect the whole game — and that's the part I think I do best."
History for Zeus and Zeka
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The title rewrote the record books. Zeus and Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo became the first players to win every international title on Riot's circuit since the introduction of First Stand. Zeka went even further, becoming the first player ever to win all of them on his first appearance at each.
Zeka refused to treat the milestone as a destination. "I'm happy I could win this today, but the year still has a long way to go," he said. "I don't want this first title on my first try to be the end. I'd rather keep building toward more of them."
He also held firm on a stance from an earlier interview, when he claimed winning the LCK was harder than winning internationally. "That was a recent interview, and my thinking hasn't changed," Zeka said.
The midlaners I face in the LCK are better than the ones I meet at international events. Winning MSI hasn't changed that.
For Zeus and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong, the win carried a weight beyond the scoreline. Both walked away from T1 as reigning world champions — Zeus after 2024, Gumayusi a year later — leaving the roster they had conquered the world with, and both exits drew heavy scrutiny. Reunited at HLE, they finally lifted the one trophy that had always escaped them with their former team.
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Kanavi and Homme add a second MSI
For Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok and head coach Yoon "Homme" Sung-young, this was a second MSI title, three years after their first. Kanavi struggled through games two and three as BLG relentlessly invaded his jungle, but bounced back when it mattered most, finding the perfect angle to steal the Baron that decided the fifth game.
"BLG built their early game around invading the jungle, so of course we'd thought hard about it while preparing for the final," Kanavi said. "The opponents were just better than we expected, and it got messy early. After that, I tried to make their early game as messy as I could in return."
Zeus credited the group's collective nerve for the two comebacks. "In yesterday's and today's series, there were plenty of moments where any one of us could have been short on experience or struggling," he said.
But nobody lost their composure in those corners, and we all believed we could win to the end. That helped a lot.
Photo Credit: Riot Games
For BLG, the Golden Road is gone
For Bilibili Gaming, the defeat carries a heavier weight. With First Stand and both LPL splits already in hand, they arrived in Daejeon chasing the fabled Golden Road — a clean sweep of every title in a calendar year. That dream is now over, and with it any chance of a Golden Road in 2026, for any team.
Head coach Yang "Daeny" Dae-in took the loss on himself rather than his players. "Today's defeat isn't your fault," he said, addressing his roster. "It's my draft and my own condition that weren't good enough."
He still found room to praise the group he built. "Our players are all geniuses, they play so well," Daeny said. "My one small goal is that through talking and learning, we can clearly separate each person's responsibilities and mistakes. That's how we grow closer to each other. We didn't win this MSI, but I saw the team's competitiveness, and I saw our players change.
Becoming a team that can shine at Worlds, it has always been my goal."
Photo Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
No rest for the finalists
Neither side has finished its international campaign. Both teams now travel straight to Paris for the start of the Esports World Cup, which runs from July 15 to 19, alongside the rest of the world's finest. Behind that looms the return of domestic competition, and then Worlds — a punishing schedule with almost no room to breathe.
Homme admitted the lack of a break weighs on him. "Knowing we have to head straight there, with no real time to rest, is the hard part for me," he said. "It won't be a long stretch, so it'll be tough, but my players are veterans and I trust them to manage their condition."
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For a team that just refused to break twice in two nights, that trust feels earned.
