The LCK third split group stage has been running for two days now. Following NS and KT's first victories, BFX, DK, HLE, and other teams all had their opening matches of the new split. BFX swept NDS 2-0 for their first win, and DK took down HLE 2-1. The freshly crowned MSI champions, Hanwha, surprisingly lost their first game back in the league—quite unexpected.

Ever since the team was exposed for unpaid wages, the DK players suddenly ignited. At EWC, "Brother Xu" led the team to victory and secured his own salary. Back in the league, DK's form remains blazing. In this match against HLE, not a single DK player underperformed. Instead, HLE's mid-jungle-support trio—their three brothers—were all inconsistent, either not contributing or feeding. Let's quickly review the game to see how HLE lost.

The first game was a tight contest with DK holding a slight economic lead. If they played normally without mistakes, HLE still had a chance late game because Zeka's Aurora was 4-0 and well-developed. But at 20 minutes, Kanavi triggered the "Top Esports Buff," Zeus was caught and killed by four DK players, and HLE thought they could take Baron. However, they overestimated their dual AP damage. By the time DK arrived from bot lane, Baron had only about 4000 HP left.

HLE, already in a 4v5 situation, was picked off one by one by DK. They failed to secure Baron, and their jungle and support also died. DK used the Baron buff to push and extended their lead to over 7000 gold. When the second Baron spawned, DK rushed it, recalled, and won the game with a single team fight. In the second game, HLE's mid, bot, and jungle stepped up. Early on, Brother Xu was targeted, allowing a fed Annie to grow. HLE played steadily, gave no chances, and successfully tied the series.

In the deciding game, HLE actually had a strong advantage. Their bot laner, "Big Egg," had a 1k gold lead at 10 minutes. If they stabilized and waited for team fights, HLE could turn their bot lane advantage into a win. But Kanavi suddenly went wild in the mid-game, feeding multiple times with his teammates. The most fed AD hadn't even joined the fights yet, and the mid-top-jungle trio had already given away the economic lead. Fortunately, after Egg joined the team fights, they recovered. By 30 minutes, HLE had a 7k lead.

Normally, such a lead should be impossible to lose. But in the Baron and Elder Dragon fights, HLE threw two consecutive engagements, letting DK reverse the game. In the Baron fight, while HLE's teammates were focusing Jax, Kanavi and Galio tried to zone DK's backline. Kanavi missed his ultimate, directly causing Zeka's death. Then Smash flashed forward and outplayed the remaining HLE members, instantly turning the tide.

Zeka's Galio proficiency was simply terrible. He rarely used his ultimate in team fights, always dashing in to taunt but failing to survive the damage. Kanavi's Qiyana gave off a "if I don't carry, we don't win" vibe. Of course, the support was also at fault. Delight's Milio was disastrous—his positioning in team fights was too aggressive. In the final few skirmishes, he died without using his ultimate or Mikael's Crucible.

Big Egg and Zeus can only be said to have done their best. Neither made significant mistakes. However, the MVP of this BO3 was awarded to Smash. Both are former T1 players. Without watching the game, many would think Egg was outclassed by Smash, but in reality, both played well—the main difference was the gap in teammates. Still, Smash's flash-forward play in the deciding game was truly daring.

Conclusion:

DK is truly rising this year. Brother Xu was terrible in the first two splits, yet he managed to bounce back. Looking at it now, T1 seems to be the weakest team in the Legend group. But the third split has just started; losing one or two games is no big deal. As long as they can recover later, qualifying directly for the playoffs shouldn't be a problem.

So, who do you think is the worst performer on HLE?

Feel free to leave a comment and discuss!