What the HLE? Coach Explains Decision as Bluffing Replaces Delight in LCK Win

Fans were left confused after Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) announced that their starting support, Yoo ‘Delight’ Hwan-joong, would be replaced in the starting roster by 17-year-old academy Support Park ‘Bluffing’ Gyu-yong for their contest against BFK in the LCK.

HLE won the series 2-0 in two messy games to remain on top of the LCK standings with a 13-2 record in the LCK Regular Season, moving the team one step closer to MSI.

At 06:43 UTC/15:30 KST HLE communicated that Bluffing would play against FEARX in their LCK clash, removing Delight from the starting roster for the competition.

The statement began, “For today’s match against BFX, player ‘Bluffing’ (Park Gyu-yong) is scheduled to start. Please give your warm support and encouragement to ‘Bluffing’ Park Gyu-yong, who is making his LCK debut today, and to the rest of the roster who will do their absolute best to secure a victory.” (translated)

The statement added that Delight would subsequently miss the fan meetings that would follow the match, but no reason was given for Delight’s absence.

The announcement immediately caused social media speculation about Delight’s health, with the player later clarifying on a fan app that he was not sick. That was later corroborated when the player was shown at LOL Park, in HLE’s review area during Game 1 of the contest beside HLE Head Coach, Yoon ‘Homme’ Sung-young.

Following the contest, HLE’s head coach, Homme, described the decision in the following terms, “Of course, I thought that Delight the player would do much better, but even though it was the second team, Bluffing the player also had his own strengths, so I thought that it would be quite helpful for Delight to just watch from behind once, regardless of the outcome, and that’s why I made this decision.” (translated)

He continued, “I think we talked through everything I wanted him to review beforehand. And Delight is such a good-natured player, that even though he could’ve actually been quite upset about it, he still agreed positively. I think that’s how we were able to go through with it. Even though he didn’t play today, I also want to say thank Delight for accepting that decision.”

The statement does not exactly elucidate the reasons for the decision, but clearly indicates that there is something not quite right in HLE’s botlane in its current configuration.

The lack of synergy that Delight holds with his bottom lane partner, Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong, has been a source of discourse, with the ADC often being misaligned with his Support in terms of when to go for engagements and when to sit back and absorb pressure.

Additionally, there are question marks around Delight’s Champion pool, with the Support meta expected to substantially change in the upcoming 26.11 patch, which is expected to move the meta slightly away from ranged enchanters. Having access to Bluffing’s champion pool may be a future goal of what could become a six-man roster.

Regardless, it does not seem like the change will become permanent, with Homme emphasizing that the top side of the map won HLE the series, noting Bluffing’s errors in the post-game interview.

Will Delight and Guma show better synergy if and when Delight returns? Whether Delight took the lessons Homme wanted to impart will be interesting to look out for as HLE looks to guarantee their spot at MSI.

Do you think HLE made the right decision to start Bluffing? Let us know on our Discord Server.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.

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