UPDATE: Counter Logic Gaming officially announced that the issues have been resolved and that Lee “Crown” Min-ho is in North America and will be playing for CLG tomorrow. Read the updated info here
First reported by Inven Global, Counter Logic Gaming’s new star player addition in the Mid lane position, Lee “Crown” Min-ho, will not be available for CLG’s opening weekend matches of the League Championship Series 2020 Spring Split due to ongoing visa issues. With the former world champion not able to leave Korea, long time CLG Academy Mid lane player, Jean-Sébastien “Tuesday” Thery, will take his place until the issue is resolved.
2020 was shaping up to be the year of Counter Logic Gaming. The esports organization is celebrating their 10 years of existence. However, through those ten years, CLG has been notorious for disappointing with high expectations and surprising everyone when there are none. Twenty days into the org’s tenth season, CLG have already shown some disappointment.
It is unknown how long Crown’s visa issues will last so Tuesday’s promotion to the main roster might last longer than just a couple of games. CLG fans will have to temper their expectations of what a full power CLG roster will look like for now. However, historically it has been times like this where CLG defies logic itself just like the organization’s namesake.
Tuesday, who has been apart of CLG’s academy team for three years, finally gets a shot to prove himself on the LCS stage. There’s some glimmer of hope for CLG fans as well. The break out star for CLG in 2019, Raymond “Wiggly” Griffin, has experience playing with Tuesday. The two players played for CLG Academy back in 2018. That roster went on to finish second in the 2018 Academy Summer Split.
In League of Legends, the synergy between the Mid lane and Jungler positions are vital to team success. Even though CLG are without their world-class Mid laner, at least they will have some established chemistry.
Tuesday is also no stranger when it comes to playing with other members of the CLG main roster. Along with Wiggly, Tuesday has played with CLG’s starting ADC player Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes and starting Top Lane player Kim “Ruin” Hyeong-min. Although briefly while they were filling in for the Academy team. With Tuesday having at least some experience with playing alongside three of the four other members of the main roster, he shouldn’t have a major problem fitting in.
Tuesday has also improved over the last year as a player. In the spring of 2019, Tuesday ranked towards the bottom of all Mid laners in the North American Academy League. But in the summer of 2019, Tuesday played a more carry style. Tuesday ended the summer split in the top two or three of most categories among Mid laners. CLG saw enough improvement to extend Tuesday’s contract through 2021.
Crown’s visa issues will cause disappointment among CLG fans. But Tuesday might be the stopgap that CLG needs right now. After all, it is in times like these, with no expectations, where CLG plays its best.