HLE counter CFO to make Top 8 at Worlds 2025

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 22/10/2025

Hanwha Life Esports have made the League of Legends Worlds 2025 playoffs after defeating CTBC Flying Oyster 2-0 in their 2-1 Swiss bracket matchup.

CFO have gone from 2-0 to 2-2 in the Swiss Stage, with one remaining opportunity to make it to Worlds playoffs.

CFO have been one of the great revelations of Worlds 2025. The Asia Pacific team have shown incredible leaps of improvement throughout 2025, turning heads at MSI and now Worlds in 2025.

The LCP champions have destroyed Fnatic and T1 in their Bo1s before facing Anyone’s Legend, and now HLE in the Bo3.

The roster’s relentless aggression has been a hallmark of their entire Worlds run, but in this instance, they could not overcome HLE, who wrestled control of the series with smart counter-picks and strong teamfights.

No Sion, no party for CFO

CFO are yet to win a Bo3, but they are also yet to win a single game where they did not have Sion in the draft.

Despite Sion having the joint highest winrate at Worlds in Week 1, we saw teams hesitant to ban it, preferring to ban Azir, Orianna, and Yunara.

Prior to the match, the question on everyone’s lips was whether HLE would let Sion through, and they did not.

Not only did they not, but they also did not get punished for CFO who chose not to play the available Azir.

Instead, HLE got the Azir themselves, putting them in a strong position in the draft.

Kim ‘Zeka’ Geon-woo put that Azir to work, finishing 9/2/8 in the contest, which saw HLE survive CFO’s ganks and dives to take control of the series.

Han ‘Peanut’ Wang-ho also starred on Jarvan IV, a champion who was 0-9 at Worlds but has won its last three contests. Peanut finished 3/4/14 in Game 1.

The contest was as relentless as ever, with CFO giving HLE no room for error but HLE’s macro proved too good for CFO.

The LCK team gradually outscaled CFO, whose teamfights looked increasingly desperate and disadvantaged.

Nevertheless, those fights were the only thing keeping CFO in the contest, before HLE aced CFO when contesting the Baron to secure the game definitively.

HLE punish CFO’s objective play

Game 2 was no different in terms of approach for CFO, but it seemed like HLE were more comfortable in dealing with CFO in Game 2.

CFO held a slight advantage in the early game, but when objectives became vital in the match, their shape abandoned them in favour of messy engages.

HLE consistently punished those engages the later the game went on, winning teamfight after teamfight to overturn their gold deficit and take control.

Zeka’s Taliyah produced an absolute masterclass in crowd control to isolate CFO’s sole strong piece in Chiu ‘Doggo’ Tzu-Chuan in what turned out to be the decisive fight of the game.

Park ‘Viper’ Do-hyeon dominated the contest on Caitlyn, going 9/1/1 and crushing CFO.

HLE moves on to the Playoffs, alongside KT Rolster and Anyone’s Legend.

For CFO, they have only one opportunity left in a do-or-die 2-2 contest.

The LCP team may have to find solutions when Sion is not available, but one thing is for sure: CFO will play the exact same way regardless of the draft.

Explosive, unconventional, and always entertaining. CFO!

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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