CLG is a staple of the American LCS. If CLG is Ying, TSM is their Yang. Officially the oldest team in professional League of Legends, CLG has a rich and rocky history full of player drama, Championship victories, and fines. Here’s everything you need to know about CLG and their rivalry with TSM, as we go into the second half of the 2016 Summer Split.
Season 1: A Rivalry was Born
Infamous streamer HotshotGG founded CLG back in 2010, a whole year before Riot officially hosted their first Season 1 Championship. Their first roster consisted of Kobe24, bigfatjiji, (who renamed to bigfatIp after being forced to by Riot) Chauster, Elementz, and HotshotGG himself. CLG competed in the World Cyber Games, squaring up against Korean team SK Gaming to snatch first place, in addition to going on to win first place in the Newegg Winter Wanfest. However, shortly after that Kobe24 left the team, and was replaced by Saintvicious (fun fact: Kobe would later go on to be, and still is, a caster for Riot).
Before Riot even hosted their own tournaments, CLG was winning. It was around this time that there was a falling out between HotshotGG and Andy “Reginald” Dinh (who was a member of CLG at the time). This spurred Andy to create his own team: the now infamous TSM. In 2011 both CLG and TSM attended the Riot Season 1 Championship. CLG would finish second in their group (behind TSM), and fifth overall. Fortunately, their lackluster performance was quickly forgiven as CLG went on to dominate the Season 2 preseason tournaments, most notably beating TSM at the IEM Finals. With their preseason victories in their pocket and their rivalry with TSM at an all time high, CLG was ready to take on Season 2.
tl;dr
- CLG is the oldest team in the LCS
- Formed by streaming icon HotshotGG
- Fallout between HotshotGG and Andy led to the creation of TSM and the oldest rivalry in esports
- TSM ended Season 1 ahead of them
- CLG answered back by beating TSM at IEM Finals
Season 2: Doublelift
Season 2 saw Elementz being dropped, and Chauster moving down botlane to support. This crucial roster change allowed CLG to take on their own poster child: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. If Dyrus was the face of TSM, Doublelift was the face of CLG. At the time, the two were known for their trash talk, and both had the mechanical skills to back it up. The addition of Dyrus to TSM and Doublelift to CLG put the teams at each others’ throats. Unfortunately for CLG, Season 2 was TSM‘s time to shine, and they continually found themselves in their rvial’s shadow. In the middle of the season Saintvicious was dropped due to behavioral issues and heightened tensions with HotshotGG. He was replaced by “Voyboy“, a respected and talented top laner who the team hoped would put an end to their slump. But even with Voyboy, CLG was still unable to beat their rivals, ending Season 2 in third. They made it to worlds, but were eliminated in the group stage alongside TSM.
tl;dr
- Doublelift joined the squad
- Rivalry with TSM intensified
- Unable to beat TSM
- Ended third
- Sucked at Worlds
Stay tuned for Part 2
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