HLE Galaxy Battleship has collapsed! Kanavi's jungle strategy failed to work! Once again, T1 has taken control!

The 2026 LCK season just started, and attention is mainly on the leading teams: GEN featuring Chovy and Ruler, the new Galaxy Battleship HLE, the unbeatable mountain T1, plus DK and KT led by Showmaker and bdd. The small battleship NS, boosted by Scout, still appears to fall short against these squads! Of course, this kind of top-tier rivalry is common in any region, though occasional upsets do happen! In a recent best-of-three regular season match, a fierce clash between T1 and HLE took place. These two teams have a history of rivalry and friendship, dating back to last year’s transfers, leading to many encounters between “old and new teammates.”

Last year it was Zeus, this year it's Gumayusi—another reunion of old friends! However, this time T1 came out on top. Faker, who seemed to enter “blind mode” at crucial moments, was absolutely terrifying. Faker’s blind Lee is truly an unsolvable challenge, an insurmountable mountain. Despite many changes around him, he still leads the team to victory! To sum up this BO3 in two sentences: HLE struggled to win the first game, then lost the second and third decisively! Ultimately, T1 came back from behind to secure the season opener win, with Faker earning POG honors—especially for his outstanding Sylas in game two and Orianna in game three!

One more impressive highlight from the match was top laner Doran, who performed excellently against Zeus, especially in the final deciding game! The coach’s pick-and-ban strategy gave him counter picks, and he repaid that trust by maneuvering skillfully in team fights! Doran’s Akali in the last game made us see his ID in a new light—steadily improving and growing stronger with T1. Being with T1 truly makes him better and better!

Some say the reason why HLE’s Galaxy Battleship keeps failing against T1 is mainly due to their jungler Kanavi. Once a regular season MVP in LPL known for his roaming, Kanavi has struggled to adapt to the LCK’s game pace. Especially against strategic strong teams, it’s hard for him to find space. In LPL, he would have already crushed opponents quickly with his picks in the last two games! The LCK style favors farming across all lanes, so junglers focus more on protection than aggression. With this change in playstyle, Kanavi still needs a long time to adjust!