First Back-to-Back Finals MVP: Ruler Park Jae-hyuk Overcomes 'Retirement Worries' With 11 Kills in LCK Final
Gen.G's Ruler, Park Jae-hyuk, led a 3-1 comeback win in the LCK final and became the first player to win Finals MVP in back-to-back years. He admitted he had even worried about retirement after a rough season.
Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.
Three-Line Summary
- Gen.G beat Hanwha Life 3-1 in the LCK final on the 13th to win a second straight title
- Ruler Park Jae-hyuk became the first player in LCK history to win Finals MVP in back-to-back years, recording 11 kills in Game 3
- Over the tax controversy, the association imposed a disciplinary surcharge of 20 million won, while the LCK imposed no sanction
Back-to-back Finals MVP awards is a first in the LCK. The man behind it is Ruler Park Jae-hyuk, who went through a tax controversy and a slump in the same year. On the performance side, a regular season that ended with only an All-LCK Second Team selection is set against 11 kills in Game 3 of the final. The tax controversy, separately, ended with the association imposing a disciplinary surcharge of 20 million won.
Ruler's 2 Finals MVPs, and a 3-1 Comeback on 11 Kills in Game 3
Gen.G beat Hanwha Life Esports 3-1 in the 2026 LCK final at KSPO Dome in Seoul on the 13th to win back-to-back titles. Etoday reported that Hanwha Life took Game 1 after a 38-minute, 45-second marathon. It was the same matchup and the same score as the 2025 final.
Kukinews reported that Park racked up 11 kills in Game 3 and created the comeback momentum with a triple kill at the 14-minute mark. Etoday reported that he recorded 35,400 damage, the most on either team. It is his second award, following 2025.
At the post-title press conference (the 13th), Park admitted he had even worried about retirement because of his slump this season. "I really thought my pro career might end like this," he confessed. The AD carry who had worried about retirement became the first player in LCK history to win Finals MVP in back-to-back years.
| Item | 2025 Final | 2026 Final |
|---|---|---|
| Venue | Inspire Arena, Incheon | KSPO Dome, Seoul |
| Result | Gen.G 3-1 Hanwha Life | Gen.G 3-1 Hanwha Life |
| Finals MVP | Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk) | Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk) |
| Gen.G Regular Season | 1st | 1st (19 wins, 7 losses, 3 straight years) |
| Championship Prize | 300 million won | No explicit prize money (distributed via GRP) |
| Ruler's Career LCK Titles | 2 | 3 |
| Chovy's Career LCK Titles | 5 | 6 (3rd all-time, Inven) |
Ruler's Tax Controversy: Disciplinary Surcharge of 20 Million Won, and the LCK and the Association Reached Different Conclusions
The controversy began with a Tax Tribunal decision made public in March 2026. Kyunghyang Games reported that Park's appeal against a comprehensive income tax assessment for the 2018 to 2021 tax years was dismissed. The issues were the manager wages he paid to his father and stock trades made in his father's name.
On May 1, the LCK office said that its investigation committee had unanimously "decided not to impose a separate sanction." On the same matter, the Korea e-Sports Association imposed 40 hours of community service and a disciplinary surcharge of 20 million won. Xports News reported the date of the decision as May 28. This was the dismissal of an appeal against a tax administrative disposition, not a criminal penalty.
Ruler, 27: $1.03 Million in Tournament Prize Money and the All-LCK Second Team
Park was born on December 29, 1998, and is 27 years old, a South Korean AD carry. He started out at Stardust in 2016, then went through Samsung Galaxy and Gen.G, and China's LPL team JD Gaming. He returned to his former team Gen.G on a 3-year contract. He has won 1 Worlds title (2017), 2 MSI titles, 3 LCK titles and 2 LPL titles.
Ruler's salary is undisclosed, but tournament prize money is tallied. Esports Earnings estimates his career tournament prize money through September 8 at $1,035,773. Jeong Ji-hoon (Chovy, 25) has $635,484.
In the official LoL Esports awards, Park was reported to have been named to the All-LCK Second Team. The regular season MVP also went to Jeong Ji-hoon, who received 148 points.
2026 All-LCK AD Carry Selections (LCK official, announced 2026.08.27)
| Rank | Player | Selection | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peyz (Kim Su-hwan) | First Team | T1 |
| 2 | Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk) | Second Team | Gen.G · 2026 Finals MVP |
| 3 | Gumayusi (Lee Min-hyeong) | Third Team | Hanwha Life Esports · Final opponent |
Head coach Yoo Sang-wook said he was confident that the team's strengthened teamwork ahead of Worlds would translate into results at Worlds, and said he would perfect communication between players. Park also said he would not give up and would bear fruit at Worlds. The Worlds opening date and Gen.G's seeding were reported by only one outlet and have not yet been confirmed.
Related Official Sites
- LoL Esports Official Website — Check LCK and Worlds schedules and match results
- LoL Esports Official (LCK News and Records) — 2026 All-LCK teams and regular season MVP award history
Featured image · Archival photo · Not an on-site photo of the current match in the article · Photo = Pexels (Sami Abdullah)
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