“One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in awhile you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something.” - Nolan Ryan, MLB hall of fame pitcher.

That feeling Nolan expresses can be applied to any challenge in life that pushes the limits of your character and ability against the pressure of an immovable mountain in front of you. 

Counter Logic Gaming’s journey in the North American LCS for a long time has been defined by that ability to reach down and prove to their fellow competitors and onlookers that they’re still a premier organization in NA LCS — that they can still  move that mountain. Despite being phased out as an organization with the most sizable funds or mechanically talented players, CLG have maintained their position as one of NA’s “Big Three” with Team SoloMid and Cloud 9. After a 5th/6th placing in Spring 2017 and a roster change, it’d be expected that CLG fall into that same position and finally fall from grace as a contender for the NA title. However, we can be certain that internal expectations haven’t changed since their last title in 2016 Spring. In fact, their success usually comes when they’re castaway as a middle tier organization by outsider opinions. If they want to make the World Championship this split they need to place at least 1st or 2nd, meaning CLG will again have to call on that grit to defy the odds as they’ve done before. The kind of grit that comes with consistently outdoing the expectations set for you can’t be taught, it’s something learned through experience. As an organization, Counter Logic Gaming has faced their fair share of those experiences during their history, but specifically in recent years their team has been molded by that internal conflict. CLG’s current methodology has been developed from learning a long series of lessons throughout their time in LCS, and a good place to pinpoint the beginning of that process is their 2014 bootcamp in Korea before the NA LCS Summer playoffs.

Zikz overlooking the famed Rush Hour duo during practice in Korea (2014; Chasing the Cup)

The two remaining people from this cataclysmic bootcamp in the Summer of 2014 are Aphromoo and a young analyst, now head coach, Tony “Zikz” Gray. The fallout that occurred there is now mostly history, from Seraph walking out of the house to Austin “Link” Shin’s infamous “Donezo Manifesto” released 6 months later laying out every detail for the public eye. 

However, the drama of this bootcamp is exactly that, just history and is only relevant because of the lessons it provided to those involved. During Chasing the Cup, a series that followed Cloud 9 and CLG on their quest for the NA LCS title, Aphromoo has a realization on the backstreets of their bootcamp house:

"It's apparent that team synergy in Korea is valued immensely and it's always important to be on top of your game and cohesive with your team and you can't be a second late to anything; Korean teams are never late; they're always on time and they work as a unit."

This philosophy is the spitting image of the current CLG, especially when performing at their peak (MSI 2016 for example). It’s clear they deliberate engineered their team to be this way after that tumultuous bootcamp experience.

Looking back, it’s obvious to see Zikz and Aphromoo working together as in and out of game generals to manufacture a playstyle that focused on succeeding as a unit, not as individuals. Zikz was first promoted to head coach one year after that bootcamp in the Summer of 2015 and that year CLG brought home their first NA LCS trophy.

Although the organization got their first trophy, it wasn’t without conflict and disorder within the team, mainly by the boisterous franchise-star Peter “Doublelift” Peng. Doublelift had always been a troublesome star, but his mechanics and confidence were enough to keep him as the center-piece on Counter Logic Gaming until the end of 2015.

CLG celebrates their first ever NA LCS Championship in Madison Square Garden with a 3-0 over Team SoloMid (2015; Riot flickr)

Even after winning a title, his longtime duo partner Aphromoo and the rest of the organization made a decision to mutually part ways with Doublelift because of the internal conflict he caused and lack of respect he gave the new players/coaches. Because of his abrasive personality, CLG were able to keep arguably the best native mechanical talent on their team for the majority of his prime because the risk in another team spending the money to buy him out was too high. He was a volatile star, the perfect player for a farm organization like CLG.

After CLG lost him to Team SoloMid, the organization was left with a huge mechanical void to fill and not nearly enough capital available to fill it. At the start of 2016, Counter Logic Gaming found themselves boxed out when it came to financial and talent injections after the wave of investments that occurred. To compete with teams that attempted to ham-fist their way over the finish line with imported talent and blockbuster signings, CLG had to commit to that playstyle Aphro & Zikz first experienced in Korea.

Becoming A Unit

Operating on a budget, it was clear the only answer would be to make up for mechanical shortages with macro advantages & team synergy. If they wished to cultivate team synergy, Zikz and Aphromoo needed to sign players that would have unwavering trust in their philosophy. To have a successful farm team, it’s not only important that your coach and team captain have a deep connection, but you must also have a group of players around them that are willing to be led. Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun and Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes brought those qualities to the table and were willing to be mentored by the experienced coach-captain duo that recruited them. Despite being brushed off as lackluster signings, the two newcomers were instrumental in Counter Logic Gaming’s back-to-back championship run. Against the logic of really every person in the community, Counter Logic Gaming’s scrappy-macro oriented roster were North America’s rep for the 2016 Mid Season Invitational. Their gradual peak leading up to the event culminated in the best International placing for NA in recent memory, falling into 2nd place to Korea’s SK Telecom. CLG’s odds-defying run in the first half of 2016 can be attributed to the team peaking in both innovation and macro-play — no CLG roster has had a more cohesive playstyle than Spring-MSI 2016 CLG had. Their map play was almost unmatched, demanding respect on a map-oppressing champions like Aurelion Sol with his constant roaming and Soraka with her global ult, while drafting other champions that were essential to their style that went overlooked, like Caitlyn.

We can look back at the games CLG played during MSI and see what the organization’s infrastructure and roster operate like at peak performance. Even though they have not been able to replicate this form since that tournament, it hasn’t stopped them from maintaining the same team oriented culture that created that spark of success.

Before the 2016 Summer Playoffs, CLG engulfed on what was essentially a team building exercise called Finding Cindy which forced them to look for a brick each day and face group punishment if they didn’t find it. CLG documented this journey and the exercises/punishment the team went through to build their bond, which was later revealed by Mike at the end of the series:

"All of this stuff you've been doing for this past two weeks has kind of been to create adversity for you guys. So the planking, the running, the swimming laps, going out to find Cindy, that's why you couldn't find it as individuals, you had to do it as five people because I wanted you guys to face that type of adversity with each other, using each other as support."

This marked the end of “The Golden Age” and birthed a new moniker for the perennial power house: The Brick Squad. Aphromoo’s musings on the value of team synergy in Korea back in 2014 could now in present day, be applied to the values that CLG holds as an organization.

Aphromoo has grown into a true team captain since those trails in Korea, heading backstage to help his team regroup after a match (2017; riot flickr)

The foundation of CLG was no longer built on a mountain of fool’s gold, but on a bed of bricks, deliberately placed to form together into a sturdy wall.

Since developing this wall and switching to the Zikz/Aphromoo led philosophy of focusing on team cohesion, CLG has seen their only two NA LCS titles in their LCS history . If they wish to add another trophy to that case and make the World Championship this split, CLG needs to go back to adding bricks to their wall.

Adding New Bricks

Counter Logic Gaming’s regression in play can mostly be attributed to the team not being able to get a grip on the meta in the past year with Jungle/Mid/Support synergy being the catalyst to success. Subsequently, the rate at which they added bricks to their proverbial wall slowed and CLG quickly found themselves on the outskirts of the Top 3 teams in North America with no way to break the cycle.

When Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett became a free agent at the end of 2017 Spring, CLG was presented with a player resembling the traits of a young Doublelift when he joined the organization in 2011. An abrasive personality and flaws in teamwork meant they could get a highly mechanical player on a budget, which is exactly what a farm team needs. 

The skeptics that are worried the same team environment issues will arise that did with Doublelift seem to forget that CLG won a championship while working through those problems. Even if Dardoch can't be molded to fit the CLG system, the worst case scenario is that they acclimate to him and attempt to harness his potential to put a trophy in the case. Although this is possible, it should be noted that Doublelift had already matured and was mostly stuck in his ways, but Dardoch is still a young, impressionable player.

Dardoch practices with the team at their bootcamp in Thousand Oaks, CA ahead of the Summer split (2017; CLG New Horizons)

Upon picking up Dardoch, CLG immediately inducted him into their rigorous, team cohesion based system by sending the team to a bootcamp at the Sports Academy Facility. There they would be put through mental and physical training rather than grinding solo queue games on a foreign server. 

The team’s constant presence on social media bantering about the exercise they were put through made it obvious this was another case of the “Finding Cindy” method they tried last Summer.

Being forced to run ladders, go into a chamber at -250 F and spending a solid 4-6 hours of their day training their mind and bodies together instead of mechanics on the rift were an exercise in forcing team bonding. In the same sense that a bootcamp for your High School sports team creates a common enemy — the coach putting you through the hellish exercise — so too does CLG’s team building exercises. 

Forcing Dardoch to bond with his teammates and get through the grueling days of their boot camp together made him have to acclimate to the team within the first couple weeks of joining. It also forces the four long-time teammates to begin molding around Dardoch and changing their core synergy to enable their new star teammate. 

A North American bootcamp seems counterproductive at first glance, but when you look at the approach CLG has to managing their roster and Dardoch’s pre-existing flaws as a player, it’s the best decision they could’ve made. It forced the team to recreate the brick-like bond with Dardoch while also not giving him any time to slip into any old habits he may of had on previous teams.

Though I don’t think it’s fair to immediately expect the same level of team cohesion CLG had at their peak with Xmithie, the organization has set the wheels in motion for the team to reach that point in the near future. CLG recently released a look into their bootcamp called “New Horizons” and in it Dardoch gives his first impressions of the roster:

“Overall, CLG has very hardworking players who genuinely care about the result of the team and the result of scrims and improvement as a whole and as a team”

Given that Dardoch’s main hang-up with recent rosters has been the severe lack of those qualities, the trajectory of CLG can only be up at this point. If he can commit to the 4 current CLG players and Zikz as much as they’re committed to each other, then I don’t think it’s a stretch if we see CLG at the finals in Boston. 

It’s easy to doubt an organization that’s seemingly been on it’s way out for a while now — clawing back into relevancy with miracle runs — but when do we quit chanting “Miracle!” and start accepting it as tradition?

If one team is going to defy the odds by dethroning Team SoloMid and returning super star AD Carry Doublelift, it’s going to be Counter Logic Gaming.

If you enjoyed this article  or the occasional meme, you can follow the author on Twitter @lolTJae. Sources: lolesports flickr,  eswiki, Chasing the Cup, Finding Cindy, New Horizons