Hanwha Life Esports has earned the First Stand 2025 trophy after a strong 3-1 victory over Europe’s Karmine Corp. Not only is this the first ever non-domestic trophy lift for the HLE organization, it also continues Korea’s international event dominance. The last time a non-LCK team lifted a trophy on the world stage was back in May 2023.

HLE Takes First Ever First Stand 2025 Title over KC

An Unlikely Finals Opponent

There was no question that HLE would be one of the two teams who made it to the First Stand 2025 finals. As the strongest region’s strongest team, they rushed out the gate crushing their opponents. The gap between Hanwha and everyone else was so big that they were picking Champions like Kayle and Zed and still styling on world class players.

After a 4-0 Group Stage, HLE embarrassed Chinese rivals TOP Esports in the semis to claim their spot in the Grand Finals. The likely matchup was CTBC Flying Oyster, the APAC representatives that shocked everyone by clean sweeping NA, EU, and China in groups. However, it was Karmine Corp that managed to rally back and win a clutch game five, earning the West’s first international Grand Final since Worlds 2019.

Continuing the Crushing

Keeping with the theme of surprises, Karmine Corp unexpectedly went up 1-0 after game one of the finals. For a brief moment, hope was high that a team could step up to HLE in a best-of-five. That hope was dashed immediately when HLE won games two, three, and four, in quick fashion. Though KC tried their best, the gap was just too wide.

The Fearless Draft didn’t go all the way to game five, but we still got picks like Draven for KC and a rare Sett Support from Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong. Mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo earned MVP honors, his Sylas game showing why he won Worlds 2022 piloting the pick.

The reality is that yes, Hanwha Life was too good at First Stand 2025. At least we got some pleasant surprises out of the likes of KC and Flying Oyster.

First Stand Passes, What’s Next?

With the end of First Stand 2025, the rest of the LoL Esports calendar year marches on. In just two weeks, regional leagues will start back up. This short schedule is new for the scene, as is the fresh promise of Fearless Draft for the rest of the year. Hanwha Life Esports has already shown mastery of this format and will no doubt be looking to add to their trophy case in the rest of the year.