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Team has renamed. | |||||
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Clutch Gaming | |||||
Team Information | |||||
Org Location | United States | ||||
Region | North America | ||||
Sponsor | CORSAIR | ||||
History | |||||
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Social Media & Links | |||||
Current Roster | |||||
Clutch Gaming is an American esports organization owned by the NBA team Houston Rockets.
History[]
2018 Season[]
Spring Split[]
Clutch Gaming was one of four new organizations awarded a slot in the newly franchised LCS. Their first roster was made up of jungler LirA, AD carry Apollo and support Hakuho from the disbanded Team EnVyUs, as well as former EULCS MVP mid laner Febiven and former Challenger series top laner Solo. Clutch was considered one of the better newly formed teams, but not strong enough to challenge for a top spot. All of the former EnVy players were considered solid but not spectacular, and Febiven's strength in the mid lane was thought to be balanced by Solo's inexperience, especially given the presence of many Korean import top laners.
Once the Spring Split began, Clutch quickly acquired a reputation for beating every team below them and losing to every team above them, only managing three wins against teams that would later make the playoffs, two of which were early season wins against a slumping TSM. However, in a very volatile split, they were also one of the most consistent teams, only ever falling out of the top six once and posting only a single 0-2 week. This consistency led to them clinching a playoff spot by Week 7 with a 9-5 record. However, Clutch stagnated over the final two weeks, only managing to go 2-2 as teams like 100 Thieves and Team Liquid surged, causing them to fall into a historical four-way tie for third that necessitated a tiebreaker series. Their struggles to beat other strong teams continued in that series, as they lost both tiebreakers to fall into sixth place.
In the playoff quarterfinals, Clutch faced third seed TSM, who were the overwhelming favorites due to their veteran lineup and having gone 5-1 over the final three weeks of the season. TSM easily dispatched Clutch in game 1 by focusing LirA early, but Clutch struck back with a comeback victory in game 2. However, with TSM failing to ban Hakuho's Thresh in either of the two final games, Clutch stomped a faltering TSM in a historic upset, becoming the first team in the history of the NALCS to defeat them in quarterfinals, and keeping TSM out of the finals for the first time. Clutch then moved on to face the 1st seeded 100 Thieves in the semifinals. Similar to the TSM series, Clutch were heavy underdogs, but managed to keep pace with 100 Thieves to take the series to five games. Clutch took an early lead in game 5, but the game extended into an excruciating, tense 74 minute siege in which Clutch took 100 Thieves down the wire but finally lost the game off a teamfight in their base. This sent Clutch to the third-place match against 2nd seed Echo Fox. Despite expectations of a close series, Echo Fox stomped Clutch in three quick games, meaning that their only playoff reward would be 30 Championship Points.
Summer Split[]
Clutch made no roster changes going into the summer. The summer split started similarly to the spring, with Clutch going 1-1 each week over the first four weeks. Unlike the spring, they were unable to keep this pace up over the entire season and only managed two wins over the final five weeks, eventually falling all the way into ninth place, ahead of only Golden Guardians. Although they did not make the playoffs, their spring finish meant that Clutch still had a slot in the Regional Finals, but they were swept by Echo Fox in the first round, ending their season.
2019 Season[]
Clutch shook up their roster going into the 2019 season, retaining only Lira. Solo, Apollo, and Hakuho went to Echo Fox, with Echo Fox players Huni and Damonte joining Clutch, and the Clutch Gaming Academy bot lane of Piglet and Vulcan were promoted to the main team. Clutch started the spring split of the newly-rebranded LCS strong with a 2-0 first week, but immediately went on a lengthy losing streak and did not win another game until Week 5. They eventually finished 5-13 and in ninth place for the second straight split.
Several months after it had first been reported by ESPN, Dignitas announced that they would be buying Clutch and rebranding the team for the 2020 season. For the summer split, the team replaced Piglet with Cody Sun, who had played for their academy team in the spring after a controversial 2019 with 100 Thieves. This iteration of Clutch was more consistent than the spring version, and they spent most of the summer hovering just below the .500 mark and in contention for the final few playoff spots. In the final week, Clutch went 2-0 and leapfrogged over the other prospective playoff teams to claim fifth place.
In the playoffs, Clutch was matched up against fourth-place TSM, who were starting rookie jungler Spica after a rocky summer split. Echoing their 2018 Spring run, Clutch upset TSM 3-1, then took eventual champions Team Liquid to five games before falling. This sent them to a third-place match against CLG for seeding in the Regional Finals, where Clutch took a 2-0 lead before being heartbreakingly reverse swept.
This loss put Clutch at the bottom of the regional finals gauntlet, but they beat FlyQuest 3-1 in the first round and then avenged their playoff defeat against CLG in the second, sending them to a final round rematch against TSM with Worlds on the line. Clutch lost their first two games but at the brink of defeat managed to do to TSM what CLG had done to them, reverse sweeping the historic franchise and reaching Worlds for the first time.
Clutch was seeded into the Play-In at Worlds, where they struggled against Unicorns of Love of the CIS and MAMMOTH of the OPL. The three teams ended up tied in the standings, forcing them to play a three-way tiebreaker to see who would advance, which Clutch came out on top of. This sent them to the Knockout Stage against Royal Youth of the TCL, who they swept to reach the main event. There, they were seeded into Group C with Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up, and SK Telecom T1. Despite the presence of two of Huni's former teams (Fnatic and SKT) in this group, Clutch failed to exact revenge for their top laner on any of them, and went 0-6, becoming the first North American team to fail to win a single game in the Worlds group stage. After Worlds ended, the expected rebranding of Clutch occurred, and the roster was transferred to Dignitas.
Timeline[]
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- November 20, Clutch Gaming acquires an NA LCS 2018 Spring slot.[1]
- November 21, TheAzotal (Data Analyst) joins.[2]
- December 2,
Solo,
LirA,
Febiven,
Apollo,
Hakuho, and DLim (Head Coach) join.[3] - December 18, Pyrex (Manager/Team Operations Coordinator) joins.[4]
- December 28, Empyre (Analyst/Scout) joins.[5][6]
- December 29, Curry (Assistant Coach) joins.[7][8]
- December 30, Clutch Gaming Academy is formed.[9]
- December 31, Baby Zeus (Assistant Coach) joins.[10][11]
- August 3, Curry (Assistant Coach to Interim Head Coach) changes position. DLim (Head Coach) leaves.[12]
- August 22, McScrag (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2018.[13]
- October 2, Curry (Interim Head Coach) leaves.[14]
- November 20,
Febiven leaves.[15][16] - November 24,
Solo,
Apollo, and
Hakuho leave.[17] - November 26,
Damonte joins.[18] - November 27,
Huni joins.[19] - November 28,
Vulcan joins from academy roster.[20] - November 30,
Piglet joins from academy roster.[21] - November (approx.), Baby Zeus (Assistant Coach) leaves.
- December 11,
Damonte's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2020.[22] - December 12,
Cody Sun's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2020.[23] - December 14,
Huni and
Lira's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2019.[24] - December 26, mcscrag (Head Coach) joins from academy roster.[25]
- January (approx.), Rigby (Assistant Coach) joins.
- January 4, mcscrag (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2019.[26]
- January 5,
Piglet and
Vulcan's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2020.[27] - March 22,
Cody Sun joins from academy roster. Piglet (Bot to Mid) changes position.[28] - March 23, Artemis (Assistant Coach) joins from academy roster.
- June 6, Clutch Gaming merges with Dignitas. The LCS team is set to rebrand at the beginning of the 2020 season.[29][30]
- June 14,
Piglet leaves.[31] - June 17,
Cody Sun's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2020.[32] - July 1, Thinkcard (Assistant Coach) joins. Rigby (Assistant Coach) leaves.[33][34]
- July 9, Thinkcard (Assistant Coach to Head Coach) changes position. mcscrag (Head Coach) leaves.[35] Thinkcard (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 16 November 2021.[36]
- September 26, Rigby (Assistant Coach) rejoins.[37]
- September 29,
Rodov joins as substitute from academy roster.[38] - October (approx.), Rigby (Assistant Coach) leaves.
- October 28, Clutch Gaming rebrands as Dignitas.
Huni,
Lira,
Damonte,
Cody Sun,
Vulcan,
Rodov, Thinkcard (Head Coach), and Artemis (Assistant Coach) are removed from the GCD.[39]
Player Roster[]
Former[]
Players are shown for the entire duration of their tenure on the team, with the role and substitute/trainee status they had upon their departure.
Player | Name | Role | Joined | Left | Next Team | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Huni | Heo Seung-hoon (허승훈) | Top Laner | Nov 20182018-11-27 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG | ||
Lira | Nam Tae-yoo (남태유) | Jungler | Dec 20172017-12-02 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG | ||
Damonte | Tanner Damonte | Mid Laner | Nov 20182018-11-26 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG | ||
Cody Sun | Liyu "Cody" Sun | Bot Laner | Mar 20192019-03-22 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG | ||
Vulcan | Philippe Laflamme | Support | Nov 20182018-11-28 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG | ||
Rodov | Tom Rodov | Sub/Top | Sep 20192019-09-29 | Oct 20192019-10-28 | DIG.A | ||
Piglet | Chae Gwang-jin (채광진) | Mid Laner | Nov 20182018-11-30 | Jun 20192019-06-14 | T1.R | ||
Solo | Colin Earnest | Top Laner | Dec 20172017-12-02 | Nov 20182018-11-24 | FOX | ||
Apollo | Apollo Price | Bot Laner | Dec 20172017-12-02 | Nov 20182018-11-24 | FOX | ||
Hakuho | Nickolas Surgent | Support | Dec 20172017-12-02 | Nov 20182018-11-24 | FOX | ||
Febiven | Fabian Diepstraten | Mid Laner | Dec 20172017-12-02 | Nov 20182018-11-20 | MSF |
Player League Participation[]
LCS
Player | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Games | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | Spring | Summer | ||
Apollo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 312 | |||||||||||
Lira | | | | | | | 160 | ||||||||||||||||||
Solo | | | | | | | | | | | | 151 | |||||||||||||
FEBIVEN | | | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
VULCAN | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 223 | |||||||||||
Piglet | | | | | | | | | 170 | ||||||||||||||||
Huni | | | | | | | | | | | | | 234 | ||||||||||||
Cody Sun | | | | | | | | | 186 | ||||||||||||||||
Damonte | | | | | | | | | 95 |
Organization[]
Current[]
C | ID | Name | Position |
---|---|---|---|
Tilman Fertitta | Owner | ||
Sebastian Park | VP of Esports |
Former[]
C | ID | Name | Position | Next Team |
---|---|---|---|---|
Andrew Barton | Assistant General Manager & Esports Development Analyst | Dignitas | ||
TheAzotal | Ryan Friedman | Assistant General Manager & Esports Operations Analyst | Dignitas | |
Empyre | Naser Al-Naqi | Head of Scouting and Analysis | Dignitas | |
Pyrex | Toby Kwon (권용현) | Manager & Team Operations Coordinator | Dignitas | |
Thinkcard | Thomas Slotkin | Head Coach | Dignitas | |
Artemis | Connor Doyle | Assistant Coach | Dignitas | |
Rigby | Han Earl (한얼) | Assistant Coach | Dignitas | |
Whanderlust | Sandra Chen | Social Media Coordinator | Team Liquid | |
mcscrag | Brendan McGee | Head Coach | None | |
Rigby | Han Earl (한얼) | Assistant Coach | Clutch Gaming | |
Kevin Wood | Head of Esports Brand Management | None | ||
Baby Zeus | Alec Warren | Assistant Coach | Excel | |
Curry | Anand Agarwal | Interim Head Coach | FlyQuest Academy | |
Karen Morey | Social Media Manager | None | ||
DLim | David Lim | Head Coach | Schalke 04 |
Tournaments[]
This table shows up to the 10 most recent results. For complete results, click here.
Media[]
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- November 30, Clutch Gaming: Travis interviews Sebastian Park - Houston Rockets' Head of Esports with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- December 2, CG's Head says roster: 'has the potential to be number one, also has the potential to be sixth' with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- December 3, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey explains how Clutch will win, why NBA owners like esports, and more with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- December 5, Clutch Gaming Head of Esports on their Worlds potential, analytics, & the power of probability with Blitz Esports on Blitz Esports
- December 6, Clutch Gaming's Sebastian Park: Making Worlds year one, transparency and the power of analytics with The Nexus Podcast on theScore Esports
- December 6, NA LCS: Sleeper teams by Christian Marcale on The Game Haus
- January 19, League of Legends meets NBA as LCS teams backed by Warriors, Rockets face off by Tyler Erzberger on ESPN
- January 22, Clutch Gaming Reloaded - The Heavily Underrated Dark Horse by Parkes Ousley on Inven Global
- January 22, CLG, Guardian, and Clutch team heads banter and talk leaving Riot to run teams - Travis interview with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- February 25, Known vs. unknown: Who has the upper hand between Cloud9 and Clutch Gaming? by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- March 8, How Clutch Gaming is defying expectations by Emily Rand on ESPN
- March 11, Clutch Gaming finally beat a playoff team by taking down Echo Fox by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- March 23, What happened to Clutch Gaming? by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- March 25, All eyes are on the bot lane when Clutch Gaming face TSM tomorrow by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- March 29, Head of Clutch on beating TSM, revenge against Reginald's poker taunts, believing in Hakuho with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- March 31, CG David Lim on TSM’s Draft: “We Knew that Mithy likes to play literally two champs: Tahm and Braum” with Izento on The Shotcaller
- April 2, How macro doomed Clutch Gaming in the NA LCS semifinals by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- April 6, The Win Condition #2: How Echo Fox can beat Clutch Gaming and Vice Versa by Darius Matuschak on The Shotcaller
- June 8, The Old Guard and New Dogs: A Look Forward to the NA LCS 2018 Summer Split for the Spring Split’s Victors by Brandon Sturak on The Game Haus
- June 15, Clutch Gaming Head Sebastian Park on LCS returning, the new meta, and more with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- June 20, GG NO RE: Riot’s Ruling on Clutch Gaming vs Echo Fox by Vi Lam on The Game Haus
- June 21, Clutch Gaming's Sebastian Park on Staying Ahead of the Pack in NA LCS with , and on Dustin Steiner for Unikrn
- June 26, Clutch responds to Echo Fox ruling, has concerns regarding future rulings with Travis Gafford on YouTube
- July 13, DLim: "If we want to be a top team, there are things we need to fix and be a lot cleaner about." with Parkes Ousley on The Shotcaller
- July 31, Sebastian Park talks about the reasoning behind the Clutch changes and importance of Academy with Parkes Ousley on The Shotcaller
- September 12, NA LCS: Gauntlet Preview by Rui Yang Xu on The Game Haus
- March 16, League of Legends: GGS v. CG is Brayzy’s Match of the Week by Brayden Nazarian on The Game Haus
- March 23, League of Legends: Thwarted LCS Teams Need Change by Brayden Nazarian on The Game Haus
- May 29, Clutch Gaming: 2019 Summer Split Preview by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- June 6, Clutch Gaming: Week 2 LCS Preview by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- June 13, Clutch Gaming: Week 3 LCS Preview by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- June 20, Clutch Gaming: LCS Week 4 Preview by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- July 6, Three Teams to watch in Week 5 of the 2019 LCS Summer Split by Nick Geracie on Inven Global
- July 11, Clutch Gaming Week 6 Matchups by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- August 6, Will TSM repeat history in LCS playoffs showdown with Clutch Gaming? by Tyler Esguerra on Dot Esports
- August 11, LCS truth or dare: Liquid, C9, CLG, TSM, Clutch, OpTic by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- September 5, Will Clutch be the last North American team to attend Worlds? by Elena Endres on Dot Esports
- September 6, The Rise of Clutch Gaming by Steven Zamora on The Game Haus
- September 20, How Clutch Gaming became Dignitas by Parkes Ousley on Inven Global
- October 1, What to expect from Clutch Gaming at Worlds 2019 by Samuel O'Dwyer on Dot Esports
- October 2, Forever underestimated: What to expect from the LCS at Worlds 2019 by Tyler Esguerra on Dot Esports
- October 6, What Royal Youth can learn from Unicorns of Love as they prepare for Clutch Gaming at Worlds 2019 by Xing Li on Dot Esports
- October 10, [Worlds 2019] Stats Tell Stories: LCS hopes at the World Championship by Nick Geracie on Inven Global
- October 14, What can Clutch Gaming do to change their winless start to Worlds 2019? by Tyler Esguerra on Dot Esports
- October 21, [Worlds 2019] Make it a Double(lift): Pouring One Out for NA by Nick Geracie on Inven Global
Images[]
Logos[]
Rosters[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ TheAzotal's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Pyrex's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Empyre's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Curry's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Baby Zeus' Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2018-08-22
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Curry's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Misfits Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2018-12-11
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2018-12-12
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2018-12-14
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-01-04
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-01-05
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Dignitas Merges with Clutch Gaming dignitas.gg
- ↑ Dignitas CEO officially ANNOUNCES team's return to LCS: what it means for fans youtube.com
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-06-17
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Rigby's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-07-09
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Clutch Gaming's Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 lolesports' Tweet twitter.com
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 39.6 39.7 39.8 Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2019-10-27; after change - NA - 2019-10-28