World champion jungler Ambition retires from pro play

Jungler Kang “Ambition” Chan-Yong has retired from professional League of Legends.

The Korean player announced the move on a personal stream on Twitch, saying that he was hanging up his gloves rather than looking for a new home for the 2019 season.

“It’s retirement,” Ambition said. “I have settled on retirement. I am so sorry and grateful.”

He went on to clarify that this was not prompted by plans to fulfill his mandatory military service, which is required of all male Korean citizens.

Ambition is best known for his time spent as a member of Samsung Galaxy. Playing jungler for the team from 2015 to 2017, he helped the squad reach the grand finals of the 2016 and 2017 World Championship events, winning the title in the latter.

He was transferred to KSV eSports, later rebranded as Gen.G, shortly after alongside the rest of the Samsung Galaxy team. Despite posting generally solid results, including a first-place showing at the Korean Regional Finals to qualify for Worlds, the squad struggled at the 2018 World Championship. Gen.G washed out of the group stages and became the first Korean team since 2013 not to advance to the playoff round.

Ambition split from the organization on November 15 alongside a number of his teammates. In the weeks since, Gen.G has rebuilt its roster, with Han “Peanut” Wang-Ho taking over jungling duties.

Given the circumstances, a clean break from the competitive end of League of Legends seems likely for the 26-year-old. Though a comeback is always a possibility, his stated intention is to focus his efforts on streaming.