The first stage group matches of LCK have wrapped up. In the final super week match, Galaxy Battleship HLE clashed with the internal rivals, Phantom GEN. Before the BO5 started, the fate of the winners' bracket was still full of suspense. At the same time, whether HLE would qualify for playoffs, enter the play-in, or be directly knocked out was still uncertain, as their wins and losses could produce three distinct results.

Everyone knows how HLE ended up: they were swept 3-0 by GEN. Due to their low tiebreaker score, HLE became the bottom team in the Ancient Dragon group, ranking last in the LCK Cup losers' bracket and were eliminated directly to prepare for the second stage. Honestly, the LCK format is quite remarkable — BRO, who went 0-5 without a single win, managed to enter the play-in thanks to perfect records from T1 and GEN, while 2-3 HLE was eliminated.

HLE, missing the play-in stage, will now have a two-month break and won't return to the stage until the second stage in April. With three world champions and two top-tier players led by Redmi, they surprisingly became the world's first team to miss the play-in. This shows that the strength of the returning twin stars has been underestimated; their lowest level is no longer just suddenly losing control in matches or making random BP decisions before games.

Every time Redmi loses a match, he mentions the LPL, and this time was no exception. In an interview, when asked what HLE lacks compared to other strong teams, Redmi replied: "There are many reasons. Kanavi and I both came back from the LPL, and the operational aspects are different. We keep adjusting this part, but disagreements still occur. It's not only the jungler; other players each have their own styles."

Blaming it on different styles is a bit abstract. Fellow players Hyun-jin and Tae-yong also returned from the LPL, yet they adapted quickly, adjusted their form, and even led their team to beat KT. The more Redmi says this, the more it makes him look incapable. But indeed, HLE's players are not as compliant as TES's. During a stream, Xiaotian revealed that when Redmi was at Top Esports, he always required players to follow Kanavi's lead.

In the LPL team, Kanavi held a high status, and everyone had to play around him, enabling him to invade mindlessly, lead aggressive plays like F6, and disrupt the enemy jungler. But HLE's teammates are different; their top, mid, and AD are all world champions with their own playstyles. Expecting them to blindly protect Kanavi is unrealistic. Without teammates' support, Kanavi's style cannot be fully executed.

To put it bluntly, the twin stars were used to dominating in the LPL, but back in LCK, no one pampers them, so their true colors quickly show. Honestly, HLE can no longer revolve around Kanavi because the current meta favors laning, reducing the jungler's influence. HLE's top and AD are very strong, so Kanavi needs to protect the top and bottom lanes to have a future. After the LCK Cup, Redmi should realize this.

However, blaming the jungler and coach alone for HLE's poor performance is unfair. The double-champion top laner and triple-champion AD both underperformed in the first stage. Zeus lost every lane, and Xiaolübu had no impact. When the two big stars fail, and the jungler goes wild, such a team is bound to crumble against GEN and T1. Let's see if HLE can adjust going forward.

Conclusion:

With this roster, HLE was eliminated in the 10-to-9 qualifier, which is quite baffling. Zeus and Xiaolübu, separated and placed on a weaker team, should be at least director-level players. But under Redmi's leadership, these two performed worse and worse. For now, it's hard to say if the problem lies with Redmi or if the two brothers from T1 were overrated.

So, what do you think is the real issue with HLE?

Feel free to leave your comments and discuss!