Building a Family — CLG in 2016
Coming off their domestically dominant 2015 season, Counter Logic Gaming looked to create a family with aspirations to be the best in North America. Their removal of legacy player, Peter “Doublelift” Peng, and stable mid-laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park left fans concerned as CLG filled in their lineup with members of their Challenger League team, and substitute roster: Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes and Choi “HuHi” Jae-Hyun. Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, veteran support player, looked to take these undeveloped talents under his wing with the help of Tony “Zikzlol” Gray. Zikzlol took over the mantle of head coach after years of fulfilling analyst and strategic coaching titles for CLG.
As the eyes of every competitor in the North American League Championship Series were set on them, they rebuilt their team as a strategic powerhouse in the West. This core identity of “strategy first” was already established in the prior year, but to enable the synergy and family aspect, it was important to take a bet on unproven talent, such as Stixxay and HuHi. To retain the level of dominance and success they had the year before, their rookies would have to fill the shoes of seasoned veterans they were replacing.
NA LCS Spring Split
They didn’t fill the shoes left in the CLG house by former members. Instead, they opted to line them up along with the other current members in the house of CLG. The acceptance of this team culture allowed for the synergy that Aphromoo and Zikzlol had vied for since CLG had finally made its return as a premier LCS team. HuHi played reckless but selfless, and Stixxay acted his part as Aphromoo’s foil. Stixxay’s inexperience and raw talent presented itself perfect for Aphromoo’s molding into a top-tier ADC in North America. On the other hand, HuHi appeared to under-perform on an individual level, especially considering his severe inconsistency from game to game. At best, he was the play-making team fighter his team needed him to be, but at worst, it looked questionable on how he even reached the LCS. Regardless, he played an important role in boosting team morale, according to Aphromoo.
The first few weeks of LCS left CLG lingering towards the bottom half of teams, and yet they did not accept that their roster was limited to this much success. That their family was so limited. And so as the team practiced and grinded and grew to work more in sync, they climbed their way back up the standings. Focusing their strategic strengths, they surpassed other NA teams when it came to decision making and lane swaps. Aphromoo and Zikzlol helped build CLG into a team with actual strategical depth that actually extended passed a single dimension unlike some of their domestic counterparts.
As the end of the regular season wound to an end, Counter Logic Gaming finished into a second place seeding for the playoffs.
In order to get through playoffs, they had to beat both Team Liquid and TSM, both of which were done in epic 3–2 Bo5 series.
Against Team Liquid, CLG secured victories around the 35 minute mark with convincing shut-outs. Stixxay managed carry performances, and HuHi played a great supportive role for Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha when Stixxay faltered.
Their next opponent was Team Solo Mid. TSM provided the perfect contrast for CLG. They were a stacked lineup of veteran LCS players in every position, many with international experience already. All Stars among some of them even. Hell, even TSM’s ADC was the legacy player that CLG had let go, Doublelift.
And yet, when TSM looked to challenge CLG for the NA LCS Championship title, CLG took the series with carry performances bolstered by the play of Aphromoo, HuHi, and Jake “Xmithie” Puchero.
CLG’s family was bound for the international stage.
Mid-Season Invitational
North America is credited as a weak region on the international stage due to it’s lack of major success since 2013. CLG, just as they had been domestically, were underdogs.
North America’s Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) had to stack up against:
Korea’s SK Telecom (SKT)
China’s Royal Never Give Up (RNG)
Taiwan’s Flash Wolves (FW)
Europe’s G2 Esports (G2)
Turkey’s Super Massive (SUP).
There are some teams that choke and/or under-perform on the international stage, some who maintain their current level, and some who thrive in this environment. This iteration of CLG managed to thrive in this situation where most NA teams had failed previously.
In the initial double round robin groups stage, CLG emerged second place, having taken a game off of every member in the tournament. Admittedly, their victory versus RNG did seem like a miracle, but CLG endured. The family of underdogs who were expected to finish bottom of the group had performed miracles against the best teams in the world.
Due to seeding, they were pit against FW in the knockout stage. Things kept looking up for CLG as they had already beaten FW in the tournament twice.
From the start, CLG only looked forward towards victory, and grasped the first game in their usual pace. Though the second game fell to FW, they were not shaken by the loss, despite the rookie talent. CLG secured a spot to the finals after delivering the final blow to FW in a 3–1 Bo5.
The same team who was critcized for the decision to let go of their star players last year was in the finals against the best team in the world. They had proven to not just North America, but to the world, that they were a force to be reckoned with.
Unfortunately, their run was cut short by SKT’s dominating performance in the finals. CLG tried to fight back against the monolith of SKT, but did not secure a single win against SKT’s carry duo of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Bae “Bang” Jun-sik.
In an international tournament with top Asian teams, CLG had pulled out a second place finish for North America.
NA LCS Summer Split
Coming off their strong international showing, CLG was expected by fans to perform in the same manner they had during MSI. Of course, as they had lacked practice on the patch, and might have been facing minor degrees of burnout, they did not. The first weeks of the Summer Split might have been worse than the first few weeks of the Spring Split. The teams that struggled against CLG had gotten stronger: TSM replaced their support and found themselves renewed, C9 did the same, and IMT remained strong throughout the regular season. On top of this, the LCS was now playing in a Bo3 format rather than a Bo1, making matches more taxing than they had been before. By the end of the season, CLG had landed in 4th place behind TSM, IMT, and C9.
Counter Logic Gaming was faltering on their basics, and it took time to properly readjust to each other as the meta shifted due to Patch 6.9. At a point, Aphromoo even said he and Xmithie had to reign in HuHi.
“He wants to go help out his teammate… Xmithie and I are the ones that stop the bleeding right there. ‘Do not go for that roam, Jae!’ Just come mid, let’s get some vision here.” — Aphromoo
This desire to help his friends and brothers on the team showed the team looking rejuvenated. They were undergoing rough patches throughout the season, and yet the team was still held together. They hadn’t collapsed when these signs showed like they had in years past.
Between the regular season and the playoffs, Patch 6.15 was implemented. This patch looked to eliminate lane swaps in the form of outer turret buffs and “first brick gold.” The first brick gold gives the killer of the first turret in the game up to 400 gold for one person. This snowball mechanic further disabled the viability of lane swaps, and forced CLG’s hand strategically.
Team Liquid was their first opponent in the playoffs again, and this time they closed out the series much cleaner and dropped only one game. Superior map movements and team fighting brought CLG victory despite the disadvantageous patch changes.
Their match against TSM was not so kind for CLG as they were crushed 0–3. TSM’s revitalized self posed even more of a threat than they had in Spring for CLG as they took teamfights and picks off of CLG throughout the series. CLG fell to the 3rd/4th place match with IMT.
This might have been one of the most exciting games I’ve watched between NA teams. While some of the play was sloppy, CLG and IMT played like they were hungry for success. Baron steals. Massive sprawling team fights. Four games of trading victories. And then the clock struck, and CLG spiraled in the 5th game. Whatever miracle CLG was fighting for collapsed, and IMT swiftly closed out the series.
I believe CLG might have stumbled, but they stumbled together. When patches changed, they struggled together. When one of them had failings, they looked to lift each other back up. It’s the kind of positive environment CLG had been sorely missing for so long. It’s the family and support structure that only this CLG line-up could achieve.
Whether they make it to the World Championship and get another chance to contend for the title or if they falter in the gauntlet, I need to say one thing:
Thank you, Counter-Logic Gaming.
