My Favorite CLG Players: Well… All of them Anyway
Felt a random urge yesterday to go through the history of CLG and all of its starting players and just rank them from my least to most favorite. I realized that as a fan of a team, I’m a bit of an anomaly in esports. I’ve made an effort to keep following all of the team’s former players after they left the team, and got to watch a good number of them reach even greater heights after. But it got me thinking about who I really enjoyed watching and still fan over however many years after. So here’s my list: all 36 (I may be missing one or two but oh well) of CLG’s former starting players ranked from my least to most favorite.
A few caveats here beforehand of course. As I noted, this only includes starting players. So temporary subs or players who joined and then left before getting meaningful gametime as well as strictly Academy (sorry Tuesday) or CLG Black players will not be included. Likewise, players that jumped in for a temporary stint because we needed a player or just for a tryout are not listed. Sorry Trickz. Remember that hour or so when everyone heard we signed Trickz and thought it was Trick2G? Likewise, staff and coaches are not on the list. Shoutouts to Tony, Andrew, Mattcom, Slicer, and Mike who would be up here if they could. Lastly, some of my rankings have changed since the time they play. This list reflects my current opinion of these former players including both their time on CLG and what I’ve seen from them or thought about them afterward. Anyway let’s jump in.
The lower ranks are almost all players who either have had minimal game time or who I just don’t have strong feelings toward. Except two… which we’ll get to.
36. Moon — Sorry Moon, I don’t hate you, I just don’t really see the value in the “ten man roster” that Weldon concocted and Wiggily’s just been too good.
35. Auto
34. Dan Dinh — To be honest, I barely remember Dan Dinh playing.
33. Locodoco — Here’s one of the two I actually WANT to put this low. Loco’s tenure on CLG was short but also incredibly irritating. He was basically a Nunu and Sona bot that followed Doublelift around to buff him while he side laned in true CLG Doublelift fashion. Walking ward bot Loco was not fun for me to watch and I did not then nor do I now care much for him personally.
32. Seraph — Man… I really bought into the Seraph hype when he was signed. I REALLY REALLY did. I still use that wallpaper from back then of Dad Hotshot showing Seraph and Link how to Nidalee. But god did he bomb and the stories of his interactions with the team, especially Dexter, really pissed me off. He had his one redeeming moment after CLG with Sven, but otherwise his legacy has gone about as I expected. What a ride that year was.
31. OmarGod — I feel kind of bad for OmarGod in all honesty. He got thrown into a really tough situation for such a young player, but that entire year was just really sad to watch as a fan.
30. FallenBandit
29. Elementz — Cody Sigfusson’s greatest contribution to League of Legends history is creating Reign of Gaming. But as CLG’s support good lord. At least it was a fun time for everyone just watching CLG’s mid-practice arguments from the practice room skycam. Having Hotshot, Saint, and Elementz all on one team was a powder keg for bad things to pop off. And pop off they did. The funny part is Curse had a stint in 2013 with him where they were actually REALLY good. But they dropped him shortly after.
28. Reignover — I thought the move to bring in Reignover was really daring, and I still hold that he was a demonstrably “good” jungler for us. His early game was always fantastic, but something about that team made them just flounder in the mid game. Over and over and over. And usually it started with RO getting picked around midlane invading. His relatively mediocre overall performance combined with what we reportedly had to pay to bring him on have me think pretty lowly of him.
27. Wickd — I’ve never really thought much of anything about Wickd. At his peak, fantastic player. But not someone I felt particularly invested in.
26. Reginald — Think fans nowadays will underestimate how dominant Regi really was at his peak (after CLG). As with Dan, I just barely remember his time on CLG. But regardless of what I think about TSM, Regi’s performance as a player and transition into running what is undeniably a juggernaut in the esports industry give him some bonus points for me. Still fuck TSM.
25. Dardoch — I really really liked the Xmithie-Dardoch move when I heard about it. But for one unexplained reason or another it didn’t work out. I still think Joshie is insanely talented and can be a force all on his own with the right environment. Maybe he’ll do work with TSM (reported). But he’s had A LOT of chances at this point.
24. Kobe — As with the others I barely remember Kobe as a player (I don’t think anyone does tbqh). I remember I watched the WCG finals, and I’m pretty sure he just played Amumu every game? But for obvious reasons Kobe has a special place in my heart and it brings him up to at least 24 on this list. Love you Kobe.
23. Ruin — Still early, but I love Ruin’s aggressive-almost-too-aggressive style and picks. Reminds me of early CLG Darshan. Fun to watch, hoping he and the team get better with time.
22. Yellowpete
21. Saintvicious — Saint would be a lot higher if this was just a list about them as CLG players. As with Regi, newer fans will underappreciate just how dominant Saint was at the time. People talk a lot about how Diamond “invented” what we think of today as how junglers should play. But I think just as much of that early pioneering was through Saint. However I really did not care for Saint as a person during his time with CLG, though the Saint-Hotshot arguments were still very amusing, and his time since has affirmed that opinion of him. Not a great dude.
I didn’t expect to write much for the lower ranked players, but it just goes to show that everyone’s had at least a little impact on the legacy of the team. Here on, every player will get at least a few comments because these guys really do mean a lot to me.
20. Dexter — I love Marcel. During his time as a player that team was tragic in many ways, but the glimpses of greatness were there, and most of them were through Dexter. Since his time on the team he’s been doing work as a player rep, and his transition has been great to see. I think of Dexter as a great player thrown into an unwinnable situation. And immigration jail.
19. PowerOfEvil — Short as his time was, PoE had a lot of high and low moments as CLG’s midlaner. But for the first time in many seasons, CLG was finally a team that could “play through mid” and rely on our midlaner to make proactive plays instead of relying on top or bot to make the first move. It was refreshing to see, and breathed new life into a team whose identity felt like it was holding it back. Best of luck with what’s next PoE!
18. Wiggily — Still young, but Wiggily’s already impressed me a lot as CLG’s jungler. The growth he’s shown over the course of the last year is outstanding, and at time she looked like a frontrunner for MVP. The joke has always been that CLG finds good players but they don’t actually become good until after they leave. Well we finally kept one! At the same time, he’s not exactly quiet and has been outspoken about improving the Academy system so other players can transition into pro play. Looking forward to see more growth out of him of the next few splits.
17. Voyboy — Maaaaaaaaaan. Voyboy was and is so fun to watch dude. He was so good that when Hotshot said he was gonna role swap to jungle, everyone went along with it because Voyboy was the one replacing him. The Korea trips were… probably not the best idea in retrospect. But brief as it was, it was so fun having Voyboy in the black and blue. Great dude, great player.
16. Nientonsoh — Nien’s story is really sad for me in a lot of ways. I respect the hell out of him for transitioning from AD Carry to top lane for us, and I’ll probably never forget that visible break down on stage when we (for some reason) picked Trundle into Dyrus’s Renekton. But I think of any player in CLG’s history who went into a pretty fucked situation and did his best to make do — and for the most part DID perform up to standard — Nien’s has to be it. I think he won’t be remembered too fondly in the memories of most fans, but for me I’ll always respect him stepping up when we needed it.
15. Biofrost — When Aphro left I was… super bummed. I knew it was going to happen eventually, but still sad having my favorite player (spoiler alert) leave. But having Bio as the replacement was a huge sigh of relief, and boy did he perform. There were times when Stixxay and Bio were underwhelming for sure, but I think over the course of his two years on the team it’s safe to say that our bot lane was in the top 3–4 of the league for most of it. He’s a true playmaker and as far as I can tell a stand up guy. But also a spy and a traitor. Best of luck back on TSM Vincent, it was a pleasure.
14. Pobelter — I think if I told you that Pobelter was only on CLG for one split, most people would be surprised. At least for me, Pobelter is synonymous with my favorite era of CLG in the LCS, but that was also his only split with the team. I’ve always thought highly of Pobelter as “the only NA midlaner” (until Damonte and I guess Goldenglue), but he was an incredible role player on CLG. He brought stability to CLG’s midlane, which Darshan and Double desperately needed with their high econ playstyles. That entire roster seemed like the perfect recipe for what NA had to challenge them with at the time.
13. Krepo — Kind of not sure what to say about Krepo. I think most people understood him to be the catalyst behind CLG EU; the brains behind the operation so to speak. But I mostly remember his tenure as a player as the face of the team alongside Snoopeh. Funny, smart, and wise beyond his years, which helped him transition to on air talent pretty seamlessly. CLG EU will always hold a high place in my heart, and Krepo was as key to that as anyone else.
12. Huhi — Ah. I once said that a team with Huhi at midlane has resigned themselves to never winning worlds, and that’s fine. I still stand by that, but I want no mistake about what I think of Huhi. At times he was absolutely brilliant, and for much of 2017 was the best performing player as the rest struggled to find grounding in the meta. And while I think most will agree he is overall a “fine but not amazing” player, he is the exact kind of person I want to root for. Selfless both in his gameplay and personality, and despite getting his undue share of fan ire, always humble and head-forward about it. Just a stand up guy, and someone I really enjoyed rooting for, even though I knew it meant the team was going to be limited in its heights.
11. Snoopeh — Who doesn’t love Snoopeh man. Handsome dude that brought a new face to esports for a lot of people. But beyond that, an incredible force in the jungle, going toe to toe with Diamond in his prime. Charisma out the ass, but always kind and forthcoming for fans. When I got the chance to work on the Esports PRC with him (RIP), I was a kid in a candy store at first. He’s since gone on and made a career for himself in tech and player representation. But of course he has. Snoopeh is a renaissance man. And I’ll never forget how fun it was with him and Krepo on CLG EU with…
10. Froggen — The birdman himself. Unspoken leader of CLG.EU, and an absolute monolith in the midlane. The rivalry between him and Alex Ich was the stuff stories are written about, and their dominance over the rest of the field was undeniable. Fans now tend to see Froggen as a legacy holdover that’s just filling the slots on teams, but he is still a force that all 9 other players on the map have to play around every game. Not sure where he’s gonna end up next split (I’m praying on IMT so he can be alongside two other favorites of mine, Soaz and Xmithie), but they’ll be better for it.
9. Darshan — Damn, Darshan. “No excuses” became a bit of a meme so I kind of hate to do him like this, but it also embodies what Darshan is all about. At his highs, Darshan was the best top laner in NA and commanded attention or he would take it over. But that also meant he was both resource intensive and very risky, and at times that backfired; sometimes more than not. But no matter what, he was always center stage and he commanded that attention with bravado and humility in a way few other players seem capable. He’s not quiet, but he’s also not in your face. Fantastic charisma and a natural leader, it made complete sense to me that the LCSPA picked him as the first president. I don’t know if he’ll ever start for an LCS team again, but I wouldn’t put it past him.
8. Hotshotgg — George Georgallidis himself. For obvious reasons, George is very special to me. The guy that started it all, but even as a player a force to be reckoned with. People often credit George with “inventing” the split push, but however true that may or may not be, Hotshot was the king of the rift, wherever he was on it. Even when we had George of the Jungle, he jumped on Chogath and made game impacting plays. From dropping it to picking up the pieces to keeping the faith, George has been and will always be the face of CLG to me. And I can’t thank him enough for making this organization I’ve come to love.
7. Bigfatjiji — From one role swapping god to another. Bigfatjiji will always hold a top spot for me because of how utterly dominant he was in NA at his prime and how… fucking funny the guy was. But beyond that, Bigfat really was the driving force behind that early CLG roster. His Ahri plays were the set up that everyone else needed to rally on fights, and even as a jungler he held his own in the early days of LCS. But also this fucker caused one of the most heart stopping moments for me as a CLG fan: the Azure Cats promo series.
6. Stixxay — I love Stixxay man. A lot. Doublelift leaving was for many fans the end of their run with CLG. And even I joked at times about it. But Stixxay stepped up and gave fans that stuck around new reason to keep believing in the org. We always heard about him crushing in scrims on CLG Black, and he finally got his shot on the big stage. And man has he pulled through. Hard to believe now that he’s been with us as the starter for 4 years now, because he still feels (and looks) like a new, young player. While he has had his moments of underperforming, he has consistently been a top 3 AD in NA, and it’s been a joy watching him through each iteration of our roster. Beyond the game, he has a quiet confidence that I really love to see. Reminds me a lot of Xmithie in that way.
5. Chauster — The last of the “old guard” on the list. For long time CLG fans, Chauster is kind of a god. The common thought is that Chauster more or less “made” Doublelift in his early years, and that Chauster was the brains behind all of CLG’s innovative strategies and drafts. I always loved his no bullshit attitude about things, and few will remember Chauster as one of the first Thresh masterminds. He was… NOT a great jungler in all honesty (Jarvan one trick lmao). But even that stint just speaks to how vital he was to the team’s operation.
4. Xmithie — In my opinion, Jake Puchero is the second greatest NA player of all time (assuming you count him as NA). Spoiler, the first is coming. For as long of a career as he has had, his dominance is pretty astounding. I remember when CLG announced that he would be coming in, half the reaction was “???” because they thought he just retired after XDGG. But I remembered how dominant he was on Vulcan and couldn’t wait for him to play for us. And boy did it pay off. We finally won LCS, and he has gone on to continue to dominate since. Xmithie is quiet but also really funny and memey when he does talk, and his legacy speaks for itself. Insane player, and one of NA’s greatest, second only to…
3. Doublelift — Who else? Ranking the top 3 is kind of hard for me, but I knew who the three were at least way before starting this list. Doublelift is unquestionably the greatest NA player of all time, and for the longest time was the face of CLG. Even more so than Hotshot. His departure was a shot in the gut and the fallout from it changed the way CLG was perceived by the fanbase forever. But no matter what, it is undeniable that Doublelift was the centerpiece of CLG. It’s easy to be a fan of Double I think, especially in light of certain events. But his big personality is something the LCS sorely needs more of, and something I think the league would not be the same today without. He challenges the entire league to step up to his level, and year after years shows that apparently everybody else is still trash.
2. Link — Link is more than the Donezo Manifesto. It annoys me when Link’s name comes up at times and people who weren’t around to watch him play just spit out HAHA DONEZO MANIFESTO! Link was the first player amidst the old guard to stand out as a “new player” on his own. And while I don’t think he ever reached the heights of Darshan or Pobelter, his entry into pro play was a breath of fresh air. It felt like watching Bigfatjiji’s upgraded stunt double. Link ran control mages like no one else, but also could once in a blue moon bring out the Zed if he needed to. But yes, the Donezo Manifesto is a huge reason for why I think so fondly of him. Getting to read about the turmoil of what was going on inside the team at the time gave me a completely different outlook on what CLG really was. And even though it was through his lens so I’m sure much of it was biased one way or another, having that perspective was immeasurably valuable for me, and I can never thank him enough for that.
Which brings us of course to…
Kidding obviously. Though I do love Yoona.
1. Aphromoo — Think this one was probably obvious, but yes Zaq is still my favorite CLG player of all time. Like some of my other favorite players, Zaq’s tenure with CLG had both insane highs when he was the best in LCS and some really sad lows. But despite it all, Zaq’s personality shined through in a way that both provided the perfect foil to Doublelift’s antics and the leader that the team needed as the old guard faded and new talent rose up. He was the rock for the team, and in many ways had to represent for more than just himself and his teammates. Swagger on 100, and natural charisma that almost no one else in LCS can match. Zaq is my favorite CLG player of all time.
