Link Replaces Hai at All-Star

Like many players in the League of Legends community, we recently learned that Hai was hospitalized due to a collapsed lung, and as a result will be unable to attend All-Star Paris 2014 with his team Cloud 9.

As a result of this, Link has been traded to Cloud 9 and will represent C9 at All-Star Paris.

Counter Logic Gaming General Manager, Kelby May:

"When we heard the news about Hai, the team was deeply concerned for his well-being. It was also unfortunate that we would not be able to see C9 perform at their best after the immense amount of practice we know they have put in for the upcoming tournament. I reached out to Jack immediately to see if there was anything CLG could do to help, and fortunately in working with Riot we were able to find a way to provide support for C9 as they look to represent the growing strength of the North American region."

Cloud 9 Owner & General Manager, Jack Etienne:

"We were devastated by the news that Hai wouldn’t be able to travel to Paris as it’s been our goal all year to be a part of All-Stars and play against some of the best teams in the world. We’re extremely thankful to CLG who reached out to offer Link in our time of need and to Riot who worked hard to process this trade quickly so we could start scrimming immediately."

Nick Allen, Esports Manager:

"Normally we wouldn’t approve a player transaction of this nature, as we don’t want to see so-called ‘super teams’ forming before major events. Under these very unfortunate circumstances, we thought it important to aim for the highest level of competition possible, as locking Cloud 9 into All-Stars with a less competitive roster would be doing both fans, and the team, a disservice for such a monumental event. Additionally, this trade aligns with LCS rules and procedures and has been approved by LCS officials.

As a side note, our LCS rules state that teams must wait 3 weeks before they are able to make a player tradeback. Because of the timing of the NA LCS summer split, Cloud 9 and CLG are able to make this trade and still tradeback before the start of the LCS."

For more All-Star Paris 2014 news and previews, visit lolesports.com.