Hanwha Life Esports players celebrate after winning the League of Legends' Mid-Season Invitational finals at the Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon on July 12.RIOT GAMES
Hanwha Life Esports won the League of Legends (LoL) Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) for the first time in the team’s history on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over China’s Bilibili Gaming.
This year’s MSI took place in Daejeon from June 28 to Sunday.
MSI is the game’s second-biggest international tournament after the LoL World Championship, widely known as Worlds. Alongside the First Stand Tournament and Worlds, it is also one of three official global LoL competitions held annually.
MSI pits each regional league’s top teams against one another and serves as a key measuring stick ahead of Worlds — with concrete stakes attached. This year’s champion earned $500,000 in prize money and a direct berth to the 2026 Worlds, which begins in October.
The tournament uses a double-elimination bracket, meaning a team can lose one best-of-five series and still fight back through the lower bracket to the grand final — exactly the road Hanwha Life traveled. This year's edition, played in Daejeon, ended in familiar fashion: the title marked the fifth time a Korean team has lifted the MSI trophy, after T1's back-to-back wins in 2016 and 2017 and Gen. G's in 2024 and 2025 — a third consecutive MSI title for the LCK.
Hanwha Life Esports' victory also marked the first time a team from the host country had lifted the trophy in the event's history.
The final on Sunday ran for approximately six and a half hours at the Daejeon Convention Center in front of some 6,400 fans.
Hanwha won the first round with the help of Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok running jungle interference and damage-dealer Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong, but lost both the second and third sets against the Chinese Bilibili Gaming. In game four, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je tanked the front line to secure victory. The grand final game saw the team win a decisive fight at the 36-minute mark, which sealed Hanwha's historic win.
Zeus, the top laner of the team, was named the finals MVP. It was his second most valuable player award at an international event after the 2023 World Championship, where he played alongside Gumayusi for T1.
Choi Woo-je, also known as Zeus, holds the MVP trophy at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational at the Daejeon Convention Center in Daejeon on July 12.RIOT GAMES
Hanwha Life Esports dates its history back to KOO Tigers and ROX Tigers, originally founded over a decade ago before being bought by Hanwha in 2018.
The team, with its roster featuring Zeus, Kanavi, Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo, Gumayusi and Yu “Delight” Hwan-joong, won the LCK Spring season championship and advanced to the MSI. It was Hanwha's first time advancing to the MSI championship.
Meanwhile, the LCK will resume with the back half of the regular season, dubbed the third round, with games between Kiwoom DRX against Nongshim Redforce and T1 with KT Rolster on July 29.
