Peanut retires from LoL esports following HLE Worlds exit

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 28/10/2025

Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) jungler Han ‘Peanut’ Wang-ho has officially retired and played his last competitive League of Legends game.

This was the Korean jungler’s last chance to finally win the LoL World Championships to cap off his prestigious career.

It wasn’t meant to be as LoL Worlds favourites Gen.G eliminated HLE 3-1 in a breathtaking Quarter-Final.

Before the tournament even began, Peanut let fans know this would be his final LoL esports tournament.

Back in September, the Korean announced he would give up playing competitively in 2026 to complete his mandatory military service.

His final LCK match saw HLE lose 3-1 to Gen.G in the LCK Season Playoffs final.

He then, of course, met the exact same fate at this year’s LoL Worlds.

Though HLE put up a good fight against the world’s best team, taking a game off them and dragging out Game 2 to 59 minutes in an instant classic.

Still, it was a good year overall for HLE and Peanut. Especially considering the level of competition in the LCK.

They won the LCK Cup back in the Winter Split and then won the inaugural First Stand international tournament.

It was two more trophies added to Peanut’s illustrious and successful career.

Peanut’s legendary LoL career

Peanut’s career spanned over a decade as he collected various trophies over the years, becoming one of LoL’s greatest junglers of all time.

Peanut began his career back in 2014 with NaJin e-mFire, playing alongside legendary toplaner Lee ‘Duke’ Ho-seong.

He then joined ROX Tigers, one of the most entertaining and beloved teams in LoL history.

Peanut and ROX Tigers gave us possibly the greatest LoL series of all time in their iconic Worlds 2016 Semi-Final vs SKT.

Peanut won his first LCK title with ROX Tigers, but eventually won the Korean league seven times and did so with five different teams.

The jungler regularly raised the level of the rosters he competed on, which earned him a spot on the iconic SK Telecom T1.

With SKT, Peanut also won MSI in 2017, meaning Worlds was the only Major trophy he missed out on in his career.

However, he and SKT came agonisingly close to a Worlds title in that same 2017 season, emotionally losing in the final to Samsung Galaxy.

Peanut was the last remaining member of the infamous ROX Tigers team to retire.

His ability to continually adapt and evolve as a player in a career that spanned over a decade, makes Peanut one of LoL’s all-time greats.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

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