Counter Logic Gaming drops Crown after poor performance

Olivia Richman Published 04/03/2020

After a difficult start to the LCS Spring Split, Counter Logic Gaming have announced that Lee “Crown” Min-ho is now a free agent.

Counter Logic Gaming spent the first six weeks of the season in last place, with an unfortunate 2-10 record. The poor showing put pressure on the players, who began to underperform even more as they struggled to prove themselves.

One of the biggest disappointments, though, was Crown. Despite making a name for himself as a 2017 World Champion, Crown continued to make seemingly obvious mistakes that never let him catch up to the enemy team’s mid laner. Without much support from his flailing teammates, Crown continued to come up short match after match.

The 25-year-old veteran also had one of the worst KDAs of any mid laner in the LCS. He was also doing the least amount of damage out of all the North American mid laners at the time of his departure.

CLG had bought out Crown from Immortals before the season began, a move that seemed beyond smart at the time.

Crown struggles in the LCS, leaves CLG

While Crown and his team didn’t have great results as part of OpTic Gaming in 2019, his experience as a veteran on the international stage made him appealing to North American teams looking for success with a mixed roster in 2020. He was awarded the MVP in LCK during the 2017 Spring Season thanks to his 1,300 points.

Still, Crown is known to some as a sensitive and easily stressed competitor, making it possible that CLG just wasn’t the right atmosphere for him to thrive. It’s possible that the team’s play style and approach just wasn’t the right fit for Crown.

Meanwhile, CLG added Eugene “Pobelter” Park to their roster after the squad’s disappointing start to the Spring Split. The former FlyQuest player was initially a free agent going into 2020, which not only shocked North American League of Legends fans but also Pobelter himself.

The veteran went into a rant after being turned down by multiple teams, stating that many North American teams cared more about foreign talent than their own domestic players.

While CLG is still not doing too great, Pobelter was able to get his new team a win against Team SoloMid. This was something CLG seemed to have little to no chance of doing before the change.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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