Hanwha Life Esports vs. Nongshim RedForce Prediction on May 2, 2025

Match info

The LCK 2025 Season (League of Legends Champions Korea Season 2025) clashes are still going strong. We’re focusing on Rounds 1-2, as this “opening” stage entered Week 5. The matchup between Hanwha Life Esports and Nongshim RedForce (Friday, May 2, 2025, at 7 p.m. local time at LoL PARK in Seoul) will be one of the week’s most intriguing contests. As we await the allocation of spots for the MSI 2025 and EWC 2025 qualifiers, we’ll see whether Nongshim can contend with a strong foe such as HLE or their rival will keep accumulating points in their ascent to the top of the standings.

Meeting statistics

The current form of Hanwha Life Esports

We begin the match prediction by examining the game form of Hanwha Life Esports. It is evident from the ecoPayz eSports betting sites’ odds that they are the favorites.

Since 2023, HLE have been continuously advancing to the final phases of the regular splits.

They participated in the LCK Cup 2025 to start the current season, playing in Group Baron alongside T1 and three other teams. They advanced to Round 2 of the Play-In after finishing the Group Battle with a 3-2 record. They defeated DRX in Play-In, earning them a spot in the Playoffs. In a full-fledged Bo5 clash, HLE upset the current world champions, T1, in Round 1. They were then involved in the same number of series in each of the subsequent rounds, including the Grand Final, when they won the LCK championship for the first time.

HLE performed flawlessly in the Round Robin Stage of the 2025 First Stand Tournament, winning all four games with an 8-2 map difference. After losing the first map in the Grand Final against Karmine Corp, HLE easily won the remaining three, securing the title of the winner in the first international League of Legends event of the 2025 season.

The FST 2025 champions are in excellent form at the LCK Season 2025 – Rounds 1-2. With a 7-1 record after four weeks of play, they are now ranked second in the standings.

The current form of Nongshim RedForce

Nongshim RedForce only kept Jung “Jiwoo” Ji-woo from the previous season, fully rebuilding their squad.

In relation to how the team that joined the LCK by purchasing Team Dynamics in 2020 ended 2024, they placed in the top 8 at the LCK Spring 2024. The top 8 made the summer split no better than the spring one, which was followed by, as previously mentioned, the off-season roster turnover with four new players.

Like the majority of the teams in the region, NS RedForce participated in the LCK Cup 2025 to kick off the current season. They competed in the Elder Group and placed last; however, they advanced to the Play-In. There, they defeated BRION to start, fell to T1 in the following round, and then defeated DRX 3-1 in the Lower Bracket. However, Nongshim RedForce pleasantly shocked everyone by defeating KT Rolster 3-0 in the Playoffs. The match versus Dplus came next, and they lost 1-3. They fell in the following round, but they fought hard against Gen.G, losing to one of the world’s best teams by a score of 2-3 to finish in the top 4.

Nongshim are currently ranked fourth in the table following four weeks of LCK 2025 Season – Rounds 1-2. They and Dplus share the third place with a 5-3 record.

Head-to-head

In the last year, the teams have faced off twice, with HLE winning both times. A supremacy of HLE over Nongshim has been seen since their first match in February 2021: HLE lead 16-4 head-to-head.

Match analytics

HLE will win this match, in our opinion. But we don’t doubt that the map will be captured by Nongshim RedForce, meaning you can opt for a +1.5 handicap on them; they won’t win, but this bet would allow you to profit if they miraculously do so.

Tip: Total Maps Handicap: 2 1.5, with odds of 2.25 on XpariBet.