I don’t want to be a doomer, but after listening to some podcasts and reading interviews, I’m worried this meta doesn’t really play to HLE’s strengths.

They looked their best during the LCK split with Zeka on melee champions or playmaking mages like Aurora and Ahri, Delight on engage supports, and Guma playing weakside. They can win with other styles, but they don’t look nearly as scary.

With Kalista/Renata, Yunara, and Ezreal looking like some of the strongest bot lane picks at Worlds, I’m less worried about whether Guma can play them and more worried about how HLE adapt around them.

You could ask, “Why doesn’t Zeka just pick his melee champions?” But unlike mages, you can’t freely blind assassins, especially something like Locke. Akali is a safer blind, but you still have to consider the draft of your team and enemy before locking her in. You can see in lck playoffs against geng whenever they anticipate Zeka assassin coming, they are already prepared to counter these picks.

Zeka playing Taliyah and Lissandra feels like HLE trying to find their own approach to the meta, but they haven’t looked comfortable yet. The Kalista/Renata duo gave me a similar impression. That duo wants to dominate lane, while HLE usually seem more comfortable letting bot play weakside. Their level-one fight felt like an attempt to establish that early pressure, but when it went wrong, they looked unsure how to navigate the matchup.

Obviously, two bo1 doesn’t prove they can’t adapt. I’m just worried that this meta asks them to play a style they haven’t looked as comfortable with.

Hey everyone,

I know the last few days have been rough. Watching the losses hurt, and being one series away from elimination is a lot to take in. But I wanted to say something about the vibe here lately.

The posts right after the losses were pretty full of hate, and I get it, emotions run high when you care this much. I'm not a fan of every single player on the roster either, and that's okay. But disliking a pick, a play, or a player's style is one thing. Piling on the people who are already feeling it the most is something else, and it doesn't help anyone.

These guys are in the same position we are, just with way more pressure. They know what's at stake and they're probably replaying every mistake in their heads. The last thing they need is to read a wall of toxicity from their own community.

Let's not turn into the T1 fans (and I say that with love, but you know what I mean). We can be critical of draft and gameplay when it's constructive, but let's keep it respectful.

One series. Anything can happen in a Bo3, we've seen crazier comebacks. Let's hope for the best, cheer as loud as we can, and believe in our boys. Win or lose, they've earned our support.

Let's go HLE! 💪

Share you thoughts on the match up

Everyones talking about this player, that player, this draft, that draft. The only factor i see is we are missing the HLE fairy Chaeyoung. HLE smashes when she is in the audience. Can HLE fly her in asap? 👀🙇🏻‍♂️

🎙Points to improve

⚡️To be honest, since we have time left to go back and provide game feedback, I believe we can improve during that time. However, ever since losing today's match, I feel like communication has gone awry in many areas where I thought it was going well, so playing the game is really difficult right now.

⚡️Still, there is plenty of time left, and if we capitalize on our strengths, I believe we can definitely advance to the quarterfinals despite our current 1-2 record in the Swiss stage. Now that we have to wait to see who we will face, I think we need to return as a team capable of beating anyone we encounter.

______

This is scary how it always happen to them, the first time this situation happen where they all look so lost, messy and desperate in their play was LCK Cup though at the time they were also trying to find their footing as a team so its somehow understandable.

The 2nd time was during MSI, their match againts BLG & Lyon was like this hence no one really expected them to win MSI but they somehow overcome that in Finals with a great draft

3rd was the start of LCK Summer, they look so lost and messy for about 2 to 3 weeks I think

And now 4th time is in this swiss stage where they look disconnected, messy and their comms is just not working, this is like a virus that keeps getting to them. Its like they were able to correct the problem yet it will come back and mess them up again.

The good thing about this is whenever they overcome this issue they became a different team, a beast, they became more stronger and more united but the thing is, they need to overcome this asap bcoz their next match will be elimination round so the only thing we can do is wait and pray.

HLE 0 -1 IG.

HLE goes to the 1-2 bracket.

Hanwha Life Esports 0-1 Gen.G Esports

What are y'alls thoughts on the matchup for tomorrow? HLE has shown they can take games off of Gen.G, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic about them winning tomorrow if Kanavi and Delight lock in. 60/40 HLE.

Banger interview by Donjake with Guma

Make your predictions.

I did select Gen G as 3:0 for pick ems but I am still rooting for HLE. Would love to see them win.

The only reason I didnt select HLE for 3:0 is because there are still some chinks which can cause small upsets.

HLE GENG

Just wanted to know if anyone had any news on HLE shipping uniforms to US. I know a while back there was a post on it but couldn't find anything recent. Was trying to get a Worlds jersey to support them but looks like I might be SOL?

TES apparently wanted to exchange jerseys with HLE players but HLE didn't bring extras to exchange. Can HLE express ship some jerseys to the US? Because it's such a missed opportunity.

https://x.com/Always_U_1/status/2112893232254497216

We could've gotten a new Gumayusi and Jackeylove photo exchanging jerseys. Throwback to MSI 2024 when TES gave him a size 3XL jersey.

https://x.com/gumayusi_min/status/1788484402806452273

Photo of Guma posting on his Twitter account wearing said oversized TES jersey.

https://x.com/gumayusi_min/status/1788997390747488266

Everything that you thought had meaning: every hope, dream, or moment of happiness. None of it matters as you lie bleeding out on the battlefield. None of it changes what a speeding rock does to a body, we all die. But does that mean our lives are meaningless? Does that mean that there was no point in our being born? Would you say that of our slain comrades? What about their lives? Were they meaningless?... They were not! Their memory serves as an example to us all! The courageous fallen! The anguished fallen! Their lives have meaning because we the living refuse to forget them! And as we ride to certain death, we trust our successors to do the same for us! Because my soldiers do not buckle or yield when faced with the cruelty of this world! My soldiers push forward! My soldiers scream out! My soldiers RAAAAAGE!

Happy to crowd fund if its a thing but I'm in Australia 😂 and cant organise it efficiently

“Hello, this is Gumayusi, Lee Minhyeong. It feels like only yesterday that I transferred with so much anticipation & excitement, but now the last tournament of the year is right in front of me. I’ve achieved two of the three goals I set when I was at my lowest, and only one goal remains. I was able to step by step achieved the goals that once seemed impossible because of the great team, teammates, and the constant trust & support from my fans. Now I’m going to run once more toward that last remaining goal. I’ll do my very best to bring HLE its first Worlds title, and a historic fourth title (Four-peat). I pray that I can give glory to God.

HLE Fighting! Gumayusi Fighting!”

안녕하세요, 구마유시 이민형 입니다. 기대와 설렘을 안고 이적을 한것이 엊그제 같은데 올해의 마지막 대회를 앞두고 있네요, 가장 밑바닥에 있을때 세운 목표 세가지중 두가지를 이뤄내고 하나만을 남겨두고 있습니다 허황되어보이던 목표들을 차근차근 이룰수 있었던것은 좋은 팀과 선수단 그리고 팬분들의 끊임없는 믿음과 응원 덕분이였습니다 이제 그 마지막 남은 목표를 위해 또 다시 달려보려 합니다 한화생명 이스포츠의 첫 월즈 우승과 유일무이한 포핏을 위하여 최선을 다하고 오겠습니다 하나님께 영광 돌릴수 있기를 기도합니다

한화생명 이스포츠 화이팅 ! 구마유시 화이팅 !

Then he unpinned his 3 Worlds winning post and only pinned his MSI and Asian Game winning post.

Happy to see that Hanwha Life Insurance is really supportive of HLE 👊🏻