Zikz Leaves CLG

For the first time in five years, Tony “Zikz” Gray will not be coaching for Counter Logic Gaming, as the most decorated League of Legends coach in NA LCS history is parting ways with his team.

Zikz joined CLG in 2013 as a remote analyst before moving up the chain and eventually become head coach of the team. Under Zikz’s leadership, CLG won its second NA LCS championship in the spring of 2016.

At that year’s Mid Season Invitational, CLG shocked onlookers by placing second in the group stage and reaching the grand finals, defeating some of the world’s best international squads along the way. Despite losing to Korean powerhouse SK Telecom T1 3-0 in the final, CLG’s MSI remains to be the best international performance by any North American team in League of Legends history.

Since that golden age of play concluded, Counter Logic Gaming have more often faltered in big moments. A fourth-place finish in the summer of 2016 was followed by a crushing defeat at the hands of Cloud9 in the 2016 NA Regional Gauntlet. CLG continued to fall further down the standings, finishing in seventh place in the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split, the side’s its lowest placement in the organization’s long history.

CLG were sitting in eight place in the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split when the change was made. Assistant coach and CLG Academy head coach Zach Goldman will be taking over in Zikz’s stead.