HLE vs TES at the First Stand 2025 Semi-Final: Another victory to South Korea!

The unbeatable demon, Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), will face Top Esports (TES), the last team to qualify for the tournament's semi-finals. Both teams were considered the strongest contenders at the beginning of the First Stand 2025, but recent TES performances have disappointed some of their fans. In contrast, Hanwha Life has consistently proven to be the strongest team and a leading candidate for the first trophy of FST 2025. Which team will secure a spot in the Grand Finals?

You can watch the event on the official LoL Esports channel on YouTube or Twitch, as always. If you want to be eligible to win some drops, you need to watch the event via lolesports.com. You can always choose to watch the event via your favorite remote co-streamers and listen to their insights.

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) have always competed for the title of the best region in the competitive League of Legends scene. For many years, the Korean teams have dominated international events. In the first edition of the First Stand 2025, HLE proved to be a consistent, strong, and well-rounded team in the competition. During the Group Stage, they went undefeated, qualifying with a perfect record of four victories.

TES hasn't had the best tournament performance, losing three times and only securing a win against Team Liquid, who ended up being eliminated. They still have the opportunity to prove themselves, but this series will not be easy for them. The odds are stacked against them, but can TES turn the game around and defeat HLE?

Return to this section after each game to read about the key moments and best plays.

The first blood went to HLE after a great roam by Delight created an opportunity for Peanut to get the first kill of the game. But the top lane was not looking good for Zeus, who was ganked two times in six minutes, making his life very difficult. All that was necessary was a Void Grub fight to bring HLE that confidence we are so used to seeing. TES was starting to have difficulties in making an impact on the map. HLE's micro and macro gaming is just insanely good.

They kept increasing their gold advantage, and TES was having trouble finding a good fight. It didn't take much more than 28 minutes to destroy TES and end the game.

Once again, TES started the game on the wrong foot. HLE seized an opportunity in the bot lane and secured first blood by taking down Crisp. After a poorly executed team fight by HLE, TES was able to secure some kills and equalize the gold count. However, as the game progressed, HLE continued to make strong picks against TES, complicating matters for them. Despite this, the Chinese team managed to secure some objectives and attempted to make an impact on the game.

Despite a closer team fight for TES, their initial happiness faded quickly as HLE dominated them in a bot-river skirmish, achieving an ace. A few minutes later, in a fight started by TES, HLE just showed who was the best team in the tournament. Their coordination, use of Herald mid-team fight, and overall team communication were on point.

In a series of team fights, because this is what this second game was all about, HLE just kept winning over and over again. TES couldn't win a fight, even with some kills. HLE was just too strong to destroy. The fights were over even before starting.

Game three started slowly, but it only took seven minutes for HLE to secure a great pick on Crisp and JackeyLove, who were already playing in the top lane. TES was avoiding fights in order to farm and build a strong kit before getting themselves into tricky situations, but HLE wouldn't wait for that. They created their perfect opportunity. A few minutes later, TES got two important kills in the bot lane.

The game seemed to be more balanced than the other two since it's the first time TES is actually in front of HLE in gold. They still struggled in the team fights, even though they got some kills. Zeka Vladimir was not making a huge impact in the game which was giving some light at the end of the tunnel for TES. No more the champions, the play, the gold, somehow HLE always found a way to outplay everyone. TES superiority just went down after a team fight. They were just stronger. HLE won the series and is now a finalist of The First Stand 2025. They will face Karmine Corp in the Grand Finals.

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