CLG The True North American Team(For The Most Part)

Counter Logic Gaming has been the topic of conversation since the recent announcement that Madison Square Garden Company has acquired controlling stake in the organization. One aspect that often goes overlooked with the CLG organization is their willingness to develop domestic talent and be successful while doing so. With the exception of their midlaner, Huhi, the team is filled with North American players. From the starters to the subs to even their coach, the organization’s members have primarily been from the North American region.

Sure they were the first North American team to import a Korean player in Seraph and they had European jungler in Dexter, but CLG has had their greatest accomplishments with North American players. Most teams put in the situations that CLG has been in would go into panic mode and acquire the best import player available for their open positions, instead CLG do the complete opposite of what most teams instinctive reaction would be. When Doublelift was booted from the team, most spectators would expect them to sign a world class import ADC to take his place. CLG then announce Stixxay as the new starting ADC for the team. Many critics ranked the League of Legends team low and had little expectations for them going into the season, yet they proved all their doubters wrong.

They took the time to develop Stixxay into a player able to compete at an international level. With the booting of Dardoch from the team, CLG found themselves in a similar situation that they have experienced in the past. They valued their infrastructure over the talents of a single player and made the adjustments to best suit the team’s needs. Most people would expect Dardoch to be replaced by a player with experience in the pro scene, but instead CLG goes with the relatively unknown, Omargod, from the challenger scene. Similar to the Stixxay situation CLG is showing their willingness to develop domestic talent rather than acquiring a proven player from a foreign region. Just like the Stixxay situation, many observers are already quick to count out CLG with Omargod as the starting jungler. Despite the doubters and speculation CLG is still in position to end the Summer split in 1st place. Don’t be too quick to assume CLG won’t make it to worlds because history has proven that predicting CLG’s future is truly counter to logic.