KC vs HLE at First Stand 2025 Day 4: The biggest hit ever

Hanwha Life Esports' performance at the League of Legends First Stand 2025 has been simply outstanding so far. The LCK Champions started the Round Robin stage by defeating the other tournament favorites, Top Esports. Then, HLE destroyed the team from the Pacific region, CFO — and that was quite a blood bath.

Their two remaining matches at the First Stand 2025 are easier on paper. Hanwha Life Esports look to face the Western teams, and Karmine Corp from the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) is the first one. For the destroyers of the LoL World Champions 2024, T1 themselves, this match should not be a problem, right? 

Karmine Corp players had a rough start to the First Stand 2025 event. Their opening loss to Team Liquid left fans on edge. Then, they lost to CFO!

However, when the copium was almost over for the KC fans, their team defeated Top Esports. Could Karmine Corp deliver their next sensational hit?

Everything about the First Stand 2025 match between Karmine Corp and Hanwha Life Esports is here.

The stream of the First Stand 2025 match between Karmine Corp and HLE is embedded below, so you can watch it right here. KC vs HLE is after the first match of Day 4, Team Liquid vs CTBC Flying Oyster.

The European team can’t afford to keep their best champions for later, even with the Fearless Draft system. The match is best-of-three (Bo3), and if KC lets HLE win in the beginning, the third game may not happen. The pressure on Karmine Corp is quite tangible.

Karmine Corp lost the match, but they totally proved their power. Game 2 vs HLE was so incredible! Even with all sorts of advantages on their side, Hanwha Life wasn't able to finish their opponents.

However, Games 1 and 3 had a totally different atmosphere. Hanwha Life Esports were notorious in their play and controlled the entire map. Their rotations were super effective in collapsing when it was needed. HLE hit specifically at the areas where Karmine Corp weren’t ready to resist.

The end of this series showed the class difference, as HLE destroyed KC’s hopes and dreams.

Hanwha Life Esports players qualify for the First Stand 2025 Playoffs, and they still have one more match to play.

Karmine Corp have to wait for other results in the First Stand 2025 tournament. They still may get a semifinal spot in some circumstances.

Zeka on Sylas earned first blood quite quickly in Game 1. However, KC responded by killing Zeka, and Vladi was one to deliver that. After another kill exchange, the game settled in an even balance — for a while.

With some absolutely amazing team play, Hanwha Life Esports won a few clashes and started developing their advantage. KC had two Dragons and four Voidgrubs, but it still felt like the game was slipping through their fingers.

HLE were impressive with their presence all over the map. They delivered kills, secured a Dragon, and got Atakhan for free.

Karmine Corp did not give up. Some amazing kills supported the fans’ spirit. It wasn’t converted into a real advantage for KC, though.

HLE won even seemingly unfavorable fights. After getting rid of KC’s Jungler and AD Carry, Hanwha Life took Baron, started a siege, earned an Ace, and won the game.

Viper proved that Alistar may have difficulties at the beginning of the laning phase: the first blood went for Hanwha Life. Karmine Corp responded quickly, but HLE hunted for their opponents even in KC’s jungles. When Hanwha Life took a Dragon, KC managed to deliver three kills, and this triple went for the AD Carry, Caliste.

Just as hope was building, KC lost a few lives, including Caliste. HLE had three Dragons and a nice gold lead at this point. To secure Atakhan, Hanwha Life simply killed four Karmine Corp players.

HLE secured an Ocean Soul, but KC won that fight and earned the Baron buff. The game seemed to be even.

Karmine Corp took the Elder Dragon, but almost all of them died. Only Yike got the buff. In response, Hanwha Life secured Baron. When KC were busy on the mid lane, a few HLE players destroyed the top part of their base. After a short reset, HLE returned for the remaining Inhibitors.

When everything looked desperate for KC, Targamas delivered a crucial kill. With Viper being dead, HLE could not contest the second Elder Dragon and Baron. Karmine Corp waited for their Inhibitors to respawn, then started their siege and won the game.

Both teams had their victories in the first 15 minutes of Game 3. KC got two Dragons. HLE had five Voidgrubs. Kills were on both sides.

Team fights became super massive around the third Dragon. Hanwha Life were better with their team coordination. They denied the objective from their opponents and went ahead with kills and gold. And to make that even more powerful, HLE secured Atakhan and won a fight around it.

The game fell apart for KC after that. A Dragon, Baron, and even more kills dropped to the side of Hanwha Life Esports. The Korean players went for KC’s base and left it in ruins. After a rotation, HLE returned for the finishing blow.

There is no second chance for Karmine Corp at the LoL event First Stand 2025 after this match. However, even the win wouldn’t guarantee them qualification for the Playoff stage. The fate of the elimination spot would depend on other teams with a potential 2:2 score. And the same goes for the loss of KC. They can qualify if, say, Top Esports lose their match against CFO on Day 5.

Hanwha Life Esports players are in a much more favorable situation. The Korean team plays against Team Liquid next, and even if HLE took this hit from KC, they would have another Western team finish the First Stand 2025 Round Robin stage with a 3:1 record.

For all League of Legends news and updates, stick around on esports.gg!