Hanwha Life Esports defeats Team Liquid 2-1 and finishes the group stage undefeated. They will face Top Esports in the semifinals on Saturday, March 15, at 10 AM CET, while Karmine Corp will take on CTBC Flying Oyster right before at 5 AM CET. Team Liquid is the only team eliminated from the group stage of the First Stand. The final is set for Sunday, March 16, at 9 AM CET.

Overall, the BO3 was extremely bloody, with plenty of kills and fights all over the map. Game 1 ended with 35 kills in just 27 minutes, and HLE’s rather unconventional draft ultimately secured the win. Choi "Zeus" Woo-je played Kayle for the first time in his career and completely took over the game, finishing with a 9/1/18 scoreline. Park "Viper" Do-hyeon and Yoo "Delight" Hwan-joong stood out on a Draven-Pyke botlane, while Eain "APA" Stearns got his hands on Ziggs but couldn’t make it work.

Liquid's Hopes

The second game swung in TL’s favor, and as often when Liquid wins, salvation once again came from Sean "Yeon" Sung on Varus and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in on Rakan. The duo took over the game, keeping American fans' hopes alive. While Games 1 and 2 were relatively close with contested fights, Game 3 was a complete stomp from the LCK Cup champions. Despite a late-game-oriented draft with Kassadin mid and Viper on Sivir, HLE quickly took control and closed out the game in just 27 minutes. Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo was unstoppable, finishing with a 12/0/5 scoreline.