We are finally here, with both our legs firmly in the new year. However, the memories made in 2019 are still pretty vivid, particularly for League of Legends fans who experienced a massive year for the eSport– one that transformed the League of Legends esports scene forever. From North America failing again, Europe finally winning the Mid-Season Invitational and China bagging a consecutive World Championship title, a lot of memorable moments occurred in 2019. However, the biggest game-changers were the esports legends who retired in 2019. The following are the pro players who decided to hang up their keyboard and mouse by the end of this season.
Players Who Retired In 2019
WOLF (DECEMBER 2012 to NOVEMBER 2019)
During his time with SKT T1, Lee Jae-wan earned the status of being one of the top support players in the scene. He helped his team rack up two League of Legends World Championship titles between 2015 and 2016. And in 2017, they finished second.
Wolf parted ways with the team in November 2018, joining Supermassive eSports, a Turkish League of Legends team that takes part in the Turkish Championship League. In TCL 2019 Summer and TCL 2019 Winter, the team won silver medals thanks to his expertise. Right after that, Wolf announced he is retiring from the scene on 30th November 2019.
MATA (OCTOBER 2012 to DECEMBER 2019)
Cho Se-hyeong retired as a professional player with numerous achievements. However, his most notable one is the 2014 League of Legends World Championship title. He won it during his time with Samsung Galaxy White. It is still considered to be one of the most dominant Worlds’ performances- one that propelled Mata and his team to the LoL Hall of Fame.
IMP (MAY 2012 to NOVEMBER 2019)
Gu Seung-bin was in the SSW crew as a bot laner. He won the 2014 League of Legends World Championship alongside Mata. He then left for the LPL, in which he played for three different teams for the next five years. Despite being consistently strong, he did not find as much success after 2015 until 2019, where he finished second domestically before retiring.
SCORE (MAY 2012 TO NOVEMBER 2019) AND CLEARLOVE (2011 – DECEMBER 2019)
Both, Go “Score” Dong-bin and Ming “Clearlove” Kai, found a team and stuck with them as Junglers for most of their career. Score joined KT Rolster in 2012. Despite years of League of Legends Champions Korea dominance (succeeding to the finals in almost every season), Score failed to reach the finals at Worlds in his entire career.
Similar is the case of Clearlove. He dominated every domestic tournament but never made it past Worlds’ Quarters. Clearlove is currently a coach in EDG, the same team he played for his entire career as a pro gamer.
VIZICSACSI (APRIL 2013 to NOVEMBER 2019)
Tamás Kiss is the only European player who retired last year. He began his career with the team Unicorns of Love and played top for the fan-favorite team. However, he was unable to any World Championship, or even win a domestic title.
Eventually, he joined Splyce and qualified for the World Championship for the first time. He advanced to the Worlds’ Quarters in his first appearance. Famous for his big smile and Poppy plays, Csacsi has also decided to hang his hat this off-season.
To sum up
Just like always, we bid farewell to more professional players with the new year. However, their legacy will continue to live in their achievements and stories.
