Former Worlds champ Crown retires after Bjergsen, Doublelift

Former Samsung Galaxy mid laner Lee “Crown” Min-ho has announced that he will retire from professional League of Legends. 

After more than five years as a professional player, Crown will step back from pro play after a year in the Korean challenger league. Crown made a name for himself in 2017 whe won the 2017 World Championship together with Samsung Galaxy. Crown will be another big name to retire in the 2020 offseason, alongside other legends such as Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng.

Crown announced the move on Instagram, explaining how he started to have negative and stressful thoughts about playing. This seems to be the main reason for the decision and why Crown will no longer be playing at a professional level. 

It’s unknown what Crown will do next, but some fans are expecting him to move into content creation and focus on streaming. Fans might also see Crown as a coach, analyst, or caster in the future like many other former professionals. 

Even though Crown ended his career after two unsuccessful years in North America, he will still be remembered as a former World Champion and one of the best mid laners in Korea during the 2017 season. Crown ended up playing for OpTic Gaming, Immortals, and CLG in the LCS, before returning to Korea to play for OZ Gaming in his last season.  

What happened to Crown in League of Legends?

After some successful years in Korea, Crown decided to play in the LCS for the 2018 season. Crown joined OpTic Gaming for his move to the LCS in what appeared to be a major signing. Sadly, Crown never managed to perform, which sent him home to play in the Korean challenger league in 2020. Following his time in the second-best Korean league in 2020, the former World Champion decided to retire as a professional player. 

What happened to Samsung Galaxy in LoL?

Samsung Galaxy was acquired by KSV eSports back in November 2017 after Samsung began moving away from directly sponsoring esports teams. The organization was known as KSV eSports for less than a year before rebranding to Gen.G. Gen.G currently owns a franchise in the LCK and has teams in a number of other esports titles. 

What role was Crown in LoL?

Crown was a mid laner throughout all of his career, meaning that he has always been one of the primary carries on his teams. Crown is mostly known for playing control mages such as Malzahar and Viktor. He even played Malzahar during the 2020 season, one of the only players to do so at the professional level.