HLE and BLG consistently proved themselves the best teams at MSI 2026, and the grand final between the two sides delivered a classic series that resulted in Hanwha Life’s second international championship trophy.
The 2026 Mid-Season Invitational began with a series of one-sided blowouts, but it eventually gave way to hotly-contested matches, rampant trash talk, and major fan interest. Through it all, HLE and BLG consistently seemed the best squads in attendance, so it was little surprise when the LCK and LPL representatives met in the grand finals with the championship trophy on the line.
Hanwha Life recovers from deficit, upper bracket defeat to beat BLG at MSI
Hanwha Life seemed to be on the back foot coming into its MSI grand finals meeting with BLG. The LCK’s top seed had already lost to Bilibili Gaming 3-1 in the upper bracket finals. HLE then needed a full five games and a comeback to knock out LCS representative LYON, who were riding high after sweeping G2.
But HLE is a resilient team with veteran names in past champions Zeus and Gumayusi, and they wouldn’t be easily deterred. Not even after BLG took a 2-1 series lead, setting up two potential match and tournament points.
BLG first tried to close in game four with an odd pairing of Mel and Skarner in the bottom lane, but support player ON failed to make an impact with his surprise Skarner pick when faced with a more traditional Ashe and Seraphine lane from HLE.
That brought the series to a decisive fifth and final game. HLE top laner Zeus, having already impressed with a Swain pick in game four, went even harder into tank play with a Mundo selection, and his Mundo would prove almost unkillable during this climactic game.
HLE managed to build up a solid mid-game advantage, but BLG repeatedly found angles onto Gumayusi’s Yunara early in later fights, while Bin came into his own power spike on Aatrox. The LPL representative seemed poised to close out the match and tournament.
But it ultimately wasn’t to be. In the game’s final consequential fight, Gumayusi finally found the space he needed to deal out the required damage to push his team over the line. As the BLG nexus fell shortly after, Hanwha Life players lept out of their seats and celebrated the win together on stage with a supportive Daejeon crowd cheering them on.
Winning MSI caps a remarkable turnaround for HLE in 2026. The team struggled mightily in the LCK Cup to start the year, looking like one of the worst pro League of Legends teams in Korea. To flip from that to an MSI championship trophy is a remarkable achievement, and a credit to both the newer veteran players on HLE and a coaching staff led by Homme.
EWC 2026 looms in wake of Mid-Season Invitational
Players and teams won’t have long to recover after the intensity of the Mid-Season Invitational. Most will be packing up and moving directly into the Esports World Cup, which is being held just days later in Paris.
HLE and BLG will both be looking to build on their MSI success at the 2026 EWC, but they won’t be alone in that aim. Respective LCS and LEC top seeds LYON and G2 will also be in attendance, and there will be strong teams who were not present at MSI, including GEN.G and Anyone’s Legend.
GEN.G in particular will be looking to throw a wrench into teams’ aspirations of building on MSI success. Whether Chovy and his teammates can actually do so remains to be seen.
