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Hanwha Life Esports: A championship 8 years in the making

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Hanwha Life Esports: A championship 8 years in the making

As a long-time fan of esports, I can truly appreciate the journey that Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) has taken to win the LCK Summer 2024 championship. The victory is more than just a title; it’s a testament to perseverance and determination.

Hanwha Life Esports were crowned the LCK Summer 2024 champions, but it’s deeper than that.

I’m absolutely thrilled to share that we, Hanwha Life Esports, emerged victorious in the LCK Summer 2024 Grand Final against Gen.G Esports last night. However, the triumph goes beyond just claiming the champion title. It represents a testament to our perseverance, teamwork, and unwavering dedication throughout this journey.

Following a thrilling five-game final series, HLE dethroned Gen.G to claim the title of LCK Summer 2024 champions. The victorious team, featuring Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong, and coach Choi “DanDy” In-kyu, has been basking in the glory of their triumph from yesterday.

Golden Road denied

As a gamer, I was on cloud nine watching Gen.G Esports make history in League of Legends Esports. They had been unstoppable since the new year, dominating every tournament except for the Esports World Cup. Their regional streak was something we hadn’t seen in generations. But then, in a heartbreaking twist, HLE managed to pull off an upset against Gen.G, shattering their dreams of writing a golden chapter in LoL Esports history.

Starting next year, the pathway to success on The Golden Road becomes more challenging due to LoL Esports shifting to a three-yearly season format and incorporating an additional international tournament. Currently, teams merely needed to win four tournaments: Regional Spring, Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), Regional Summer, and World Championships. However, in the upcoming seasons, they will need to triumph in six competitions, as the Regional Winter and the new international event will be added to the existing lineup.

Chovy vs Zeka

One little tidbit of information arose amidst HLE’s win. Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon has a 15-2 record against Zeka. At first glance, this looks to be heavily in Chovy’s favor, but the two matches Chovy lost were the most meaningful ones: Worlds 2023 Grand Final and LCK Summer 2024 Grand Final.

At the Woori Bank 2024 LCK Summer Finals, Zeka was named the MVP. This achievement also marked the end of the reign of the “Four Kings of the LCK,” as only four mid-laners had reached the LCK finals since 2019: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Heo “ShowMaker” Su, Chovy, and BDD.

HLE’s 8-year journey to the final

Hard to believe, but after a grueling eight-year journey, Hanwha Life Esports managed to claim victory in the League of Legends (LoL) LCK finals yet again.

In 2018, HLE embarked on their League of Legends Championship (LCK) journey as the spiritual heir to ROX Tigers, having taken over their roster and slot. Notably, it had been a full two years since ROX advanced to the final stage in the competition.

ROX last appeared in the championship final during the Summer of 2016, when they also boasted Peanut as a team member. That year, they triumphed over KT Rolster in a best-of-five series and emerged victorious as champions of LCK Summer 2016. Regrettably, ROX failed to qualify for another grand final after this triumph.

After the takeover, the team continued to struggle in their pursuit of the regional title. Despite numerous attempts with different lineups, they failed to win the trophy or even make it to the grand final. Interestingly, they struggled just to qualify for the playoffs until as recent as 2023.

Today’s discussion leads us back to this point. In the Summer 2024 LCK season, HLE demonstrated exceptional strength, ending up second only to Gen.G who had an unprecedented 17-1 streak. This position granted them a pass in the playoffs, leading them directly to their first match against T1. After a swift 3-0 victory, they moved forward to the upper bracket final. In this round, they faced Gen.G Esports as anticipated, with Gen.G securing the win, 3-1.

In their second encounter, HLE found themselves in the lower bracket, facing off against T1 once more. Similar to their initial matchup, this one also favored HLE, ending with a score of 3-1. This victory propelled them into the grand final for the first time in eight years and secured their place at Worlds 2024.

The common denominator: Peanut

8 years ago, it was known as ROX, and now it’s HLE. While others transitioned from black hair to gray, Peanut uniquely transformed from having gray hair to black.

Peanut played a crucial role in both ROX’ and HLE’s victories, and several other teams should acknowledge him for their trophies too. Following his latest win against Gen.G Esports, Peanut now boasts seven championship titles across five different organizations.

In 2016, his inaugural win came with ROX, and then in the spring of 2017, he secured another victory for SK Telecom T1. He moved to Kingzone DragonX during the spring of 2018, where he clinched a win and finished as runner-up at MSI 2018. After a brief period in the LPL, he returned to the LCK in 2021 under Nongshim RedForce, but unfortunately didn’t find success there.

In 2022, Peanut joined Gen.G and managed to triumph in three back-to-back seasons (Summer 2022, Spring and Summer 2023). However, his tenure with the organization came to an end when Gen.G experienced an early elimination at Worlds 2023.

Gen.G Black vs Gen.G Orange

As a passionate fan, I can’t help but imagine that HLE could have been Gen.G’s sibling team. In the 2023 lineup of Gen.G, Peanut, Doran, and Delight were all present, which fueled speculation among us fans. This intriguing scenario was further emphasized when Gen.G Esports faced Hanwha Life Esports in the LCK Summer 2024 grand final, leading many to humorously refer to it as a clash between sister teams. It’s interesting to note that back in the day, we had actual sibling teams like Samsung Blue and Samsung White competing within the league.

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2024-09-09 18:41

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