CLG Comes Home
Riot·8/18/2014, 10:59:57 PM·1 votes·21,180 views
Once among the unquestioned kings of League of Legends, much has changed since Counter Logic Gaming’s first trip to the World Championship. From Hotshotgg and Chauster to Dexter and Doublelift, the story of one of League of Legends’ oldest organizations is full of success, upheaval, and resurgence. Returning home from a training session in Korea, CLG looks reclaim their former glory with another trip to the World Championship.
CLG found moderate success in the early days of the LCS. The team never seemed to be able to lock down a reliable roster from split to split. Thanks to that indecision, Season 3 would prove to be Counter Logic Gaming’s most disappointing season ever. Failing to reach the World Championships for the first time in the organization’s history, CLG once again made several aggressive moves to prepare for their bid for international success in 2014.
The 2014 spring split was full of struggles for CLG. Despite making an aggressive roster move to bring in Dexter from Europe, Doublelift and crew had to fight through several weeks with substitute junglers while Dexter sorted out visa issues. Once Dexter finally arrived, the team started to finally mesh, and began to rise through the rankings.
Once they reached the playoffs, however, they found themselves stymied by the ever-strong TSM. CLG was left with another offseason of tough decisions. Facing overwhelming criticism, top laner Nien left the team of his own accord. Taking cues from their search for Dexter, CLG looked all over the world for the top laner’s replacement. Settling on Korean player Seraph, CLG came into the summer split with a roster with massive potential.
2014’s summer split has been an absolute scrum for the top teams. No team was safe, and each challenger pushed the level of competition even higher. Despite holding the top position for five weeks, as the split went on, Counter Logic Gaming began to show signs that the strong roster was coming apart at the seams.
In weeks 9 and 10, CLG failed to win a single game. They looked indecisive, lacking in communication, and entirely unlike their midseason selves. Something was wrong.
During this time, season two of Chasing the Cup premiered, featuring multiple scenes of CLG members bickering fruitlessly with one another. With the threat of missing another World Championship looming, the team made the bold decision to forgo the final week of the regular season, and instead travel to Korea for an intense training session. There with coach Montecristo, CLG hopes to fix their interpersonal issues, rediscover their strength, and grow as a team enough to blow past the North American competition and earn another shot at the world.
Bringing in Seraph was a bold move for CLG. The hope was that his mechanical skill would outweigh the difficulties the team would have communicating. Unfortunately, for most of the regular season Seraph was relegated to Shyvana and Lulu, less mechanically intensive and less carry-capable top laners.
In fact, Seraph’s greatest contribution to CLG this split was to pull focus away from the Rush Hour bottom lane, allowing Doublelift and Aphromoo to consistently win their lane. On the Worlds stage, Seraph will have to contend with top laners who, if left unchecked, can win matches all by themselves. For Counter Logic Gaming to have a shot, Seraph will have to not only extend his champion pool, but also show that he can consistently win a one on one lane matchup.
Their trip to Korea has one goal: To spend time with coach Montecristo and solve the interpersonal problems plaguing the squad. The road to the World Championship finals will be long, and CLG will have to deal with travel days, short preparation time, and extremely tough matches.
If CLG returns from their retreat having solved their issues, the team does have a number of things going for them in international competition. In addition to coaching CLG, Montecristo is a shoutcaster for the OGN, giving him a deeper understanding of the strength of the Korean teams than most North American analysts.
Each time Monte has come to the states to work with the team in person, there has been a dramatic improvement in their performance. The more time the team spends around his leadership, the better their chances will be once the World Championship tournament comes around.
Outside of Aphromoo, CLG also boasts a solid bit of international experience. Both Dexter and Doublelift have competed in past World Championships. At this year’s All Stars, Link went toe-to-toe with Faker and Xiyang, two of the greatest mid laners in the world - and held his own. The challenge for North American teams has always been to contain the aggressive early game of strong teams in other regions. If Link can stay even with the best the world has to offer, and Rush Hour can find their rhythm again, the team’s strong mid-game rotation play should give them a fair chance against anyone.
The question remains: Which CLG will return from Korea? Will it be the squad with one of the strongest bottom lanes in the world and near-perfect rotations? Or will it be a group full of players with weak communication and visible frustration? We’ll find out as the North American LCS playoffs continue.
BACK IN THE OLD DAYS
When the competitive League of Legends scene was in its infancy, North American teams led the way. Since their inception, and through much of Season 1, Counter Logic Gaming was one of the most feared teams in the world. In the top lane, Hotshotgg was an immovable force. Bigfatjiji, Elementz and Chauster were widely regarded as powerful players. Before retiring from pro play for a career as a caster, Kobe24 was an ever-present jungle threat. Replacing Kobe with Saintvicious, Counter Logic Gaming made it to the first ever League of Legends World Championship. They would finish that tournament in fifth place, the lowest spot among North American teams. As Season 2 began, CLG would begin their trend of benching players and moving their roster around. First, Elementz was removed and Chauster took over support to make room for Doublelift. Then, Saintvicious was dismissed and Hotshotgg moved to the jungle so the team could bring in Voyboy. This roster would make it to the Season 2 World Championship, but failed in the group stage, with their only win coming in an epic base race with SK Gaming. In another flurry of roster moves, CLG entered the first split of the LCS with Hotshotgg in the top lane, Chauster in the jungle, Link as their mid laner, Doublelift remaining the team’s AD carry, and former carry Aphromoo as the support.
CLG found moderate success in the early days of the LCS. The team never seemed to be able to lock down a reliable roster from split to split. Thanks to that indecision, Season 3 would prove to be Counter Logic Gaming’s most disappointing season ever. Failing to reach the World Championships for the first time in the organization’s history, CLG once again made several aggressive moves to prepare for their bid for international success in 2014.
ONE STEP UP, TWO STEPS BACK
The 2014 spring split was full of struggles for CLG. Despite making an aggressive roster move to bring in Dexter from Europe, Doublelift and crew had to fight through several weeks with substitute junglers while Dexter sorted out visa issues. Once Dexter finally arrived, the team started to finally mesh, and began to rise through the rankings.
Once they reached the playoffs, however, they found themselves stymied by the ever-strong TSM. CLG was left with another offseason of tough decisions. Facing overwhelming criticism, top laner Nien left the team of his own accord. Taking cues from their search for Dexter, CLG looked all over the world for the top laner’s replacement. Settling on Korean player Seraph, CLG came into the summer split with a roster with massive potential.
2014’s summer split has been an absolute scrum for the top teams. No team was safe, and each challenger pushed the level of competition even higher. Despite holding the top position for five weeks, as the split went on, Counter Logic Gaming began to show signs that the strong roster was coming apart at the seams.
In weeks 9 and 10, CLG failed to win a single game. They looked indecisive, lacking in communication, and entirely unlike their midseason selves. Something was wrong.
During this time, season two of Chasing the Cup premiered, featuring multiple scenes of CLG members bickering fruitlessly with one another. With the threat of missing another World Championship looming, the team made the bold decision to forgo the final week of the regular season, and instead travel to Korea for an intense training session. There with coach Montecristo, CLG hopes to fix their interpersonal issues, rediscover their strength, and grow as a team enough to blow past the North American competition and earn another shot at the world.
What now?
Counter Logic Gaming is a mystery coming into the NA LCS playoffs.
Bringing in Seraph was a bold move for CLG. The hope was that his mechanical skill would outweigh the difficulties the team would have communicating. Unfortunately, for most of the regular season Seraph was relegated to Shyvana and Lulu, less mechanically intensive and less carry-capable top laners.
In fact, Seraph’s greatest contribution to CLG this split was to pull focus away from the Rush Hour bottom lane, allowing Doublelift and Aphromoo to consistently win their lane. On the Worlds stage, Seraph will have to contend with top laners who, if left unchecked, can win matches all by themselves. For Counter Logic Gaming to have a shot, Seraph will have to not only extend his champion pool, but also show that he can consistently win a one on one lane matchup.
Their trip to Korea has one goal: To spend time with coach Montecristo and solve the interpersonal problems plaguing the squad. The road to the World Championship finals will be long, and CLG will have to deal with travel days, short preparation time, and extremely tough matches.
CLG VS THE WORLD
If CLG returns from their retreat having solved their issues, the team does have a number of things going for them in international competition. In addition to coaching CLG, Montecristo is a shoutcaster for the OGN, giving him a deeper understanding of the strength of the Korean teams than most North American analysts.
Each time Monte has come to the states to work with the team in person, there has been a dramatic improvement in their performance. The more time the team spends around his leadership, the better their chances will be once the World Championship tournament comes around.
Outside of Aphromoo, CLG also boasts a solid bit of international experience. Both Dexter and Doublelift have competed in past World Championships. At this year’s All Stars, Link went toe-to-toe with Faker and Xiyang, two of the greatest mid laners in the world - and held his own. The challenge for North American teams has always been to contain the aggressive early game of strong teams in other regions. If Link can stay even with the best the world has to offer, and Rush Hour can find their rhythm again, the team’s strong mid-game rotation play should give them a fair chance against anyone.
The question remains: Which CLG will return from Korea? Will it be the squad with one of the strongest bottom lanes in the world and near-perfect rotations? Or will it be a group full of players with weak communication and visible frustration? We’ll find out as the North American LCS playoffs continue.
