Clutch Gaming

Clutch Gaming (CG) was an American esports organization founded by the Houston Rockets in 2017. It was one of four organizations that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) after the league began franchising in 2018, the others being 100 Thieves, the Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming. In 2019, Clutch Gaming was bought by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and merged with Dignitas.

Clutch Gaming

The second logo of Clutch Gaming, used under the ownership of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment
Short name	CG
Game	League of Legends
Founded	November 20, 2017 (2017-11-20)
Folded	October 28, 2019 (2019-10-28)
League	LCS
Based in	Houston, Texas
Location	United States
Owner	Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment
Parent group	Dignitas

History

Founding

The Houston Rockets announced the founding of Clutch Gaming and its acquisition of a spot in the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) on November 20, 2017.^[1] Clutch Gaming was one of four organizations to join the NA LCS after the league began franchising, the others being 100 Thieves, the Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming.^[2][3][4]

2018 season

For the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split, Tae-yoo "Lira" Nam, Apollo "Apollo" Price and Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent were acquired from Team Envy's roster before they disbanded,^[5] while Colin "Solo" Earnest and Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten were acquired from Gold Coin United and H2K respectively.^[6] Clutch Gaming finished the regular season in sixth place after losing two tiebreakers to Cloud9 and TSM, ending with 11 wins and 9 losses.^[7] This placement secured them a spot in playoffs,^[8][9] where they defeated TSM 3–1 in an upset victory in the quarterfinals,^[10] but lost 2–3 to 100 Thieves in the semifinals^[11][12] and 0–3 to Echo Fox in the third-place decider match.^[13]

Clutch Gaming ended the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split in ninth place, with a 6–12 record.^[14] The team qualified for the 2018 NA LCS Regional Qualifier after FlyQuest lost to 100 Thieves in the quarterfinals, as Clutch Gaming placed higher than FlyQuest in championship points due to the outcome of the match.^[15] Clutch Gaming lost to Echo Fox 0–3 in the first round of the regional qualifier and was eliminated from Worlds contention.^[16]

In late November 2018, Clutch Gaming and Echo Fox traded players in preparation for the upcoming 2019 LCS Spring Split (which had recently renamed to exclude "NA" from its title). Solo, Apollo and Hakuho left Clutch Gaming to join Echo Fox,^[17] and in return Clutch Gaming acquired Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon^[18][19] and Tanner "Damonte" Damonte.^[20][21] Chae "Piglet" Gwang-jin and Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme were also moved from the organization's academy team to complete the roster.^[22]

2019 season

Clutch Gaming ended the 2019 LCS Spring Split in ninth place once again, with a 5–13 record.^[23] Prior to the start of the 2019 LCS Summer Split, Clutch Gaming announced that it would replace Piglet with Cody Sun as the team's starting bot laner.^[24] After defeating the Golden Guardians in the last week of the summer regular season, Clutch Gaming was able to secure a spot in playoffs with a fifth-place finish and a 9–9 record.^[25] In the quarterfinals Clutch Gaming once again defeated TSM 3–1,^[26][27] moving on to the semifinals, where they lost 2–3 to Team Liquid in a close series.^[28] Clutch Gaming was then reverse swept by CLG in the third-place decider match,^[29] forcing them to begin in the first round of the regional qualifier for the 2019 World Championship. After defeating FlyQuest,^[30] CLG^[31] and TSM^[32] in the first, second and third rounds respectively, Clutch Gaming secured a spot in the 2019 World Championship as the LCS' third seed.

Clutch Gaming began in the play-in stage of the 2019 World Championship, where they were placed in Group A with Russian team Unicorns of Love and Australian team Mammoth. After losing to the Unicorns of Love and defeating Mammoth in both round robins, Group A was locked in a three-way tie, but Clutch Gaming avoided the first tiebreaker match due to them having the shortest total game time (63:37) among their victories.^[33] Clutch Gaming then defeated the Unicorns of Love to secure first seed in their group.^[34] In the second round of play-in stage, Clutch Gaming was pitted against Turkish team Royal Youth, who they promptly swept 3–0 to secure a spot in the main event.^[35]

Because of group draw rules for the main event, Clutch Gaming was forced into Group C, which was nicknamed the "group of death" due to it having three regional superteams: South Korea's SK Telecom T1, China's Royal Never Give Up, and Europe's Fnatic.^[36] Clutch Gaming finished the main event group stage with a 0–6 record and were eliminated without picking up a single win in the double round robin.^[37]

Acquisition by Dignitas

On June 6, 2019, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment bought Clutch Gaming for over $30 million.^[38] The team subsequently merged with Dignitas on October 28, 2019.^[39]

Final rosters

LCS team Clutch Gaming League of Legends roster Players Coaches Role Handle Name Nationality Top Huni Heo Seung-hoon South Korea Jungle Lira Nam Tae-yoo South Korea Mid Damonte Damonte, Tanner United States Bot Cody Sun Sun, Liyu "Cody" Canada Support Vulcan Laflamme, Philippe Canada Head coach Thomas "Thinkcard" Slotkin Assistant coach(es) Connor "Artemis" Doyle Han "Rigby" Earl Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended Substitute Injury / Illness

Academy team Clutch Gaming Academy League of Legends roster Players Coaches Role Handle Name Nationality Top Rodov Rodov, Tom Canada Jungle Magerdanger Magerkurth, Jason United States Mid Sun Cook, Joshua United States Bot Rikara Oh, Richard United States Support Joey Haslemann, Joseph United States Head coach Connor "Artemis" Doyle Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended Substitute Injury / Illness

Tournament results

LCS team Placement Event Final result (W–L) 6th 2018 NA LCS Spring Split 11–7 4th 2018 NA LCS Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against Echo Fox) 9th 2018 NA LCS Summer Split 6–12 4th 2018 NA Regional Qualifier 0–3 (against Echo Fox) 9th 2019 LCS Spring Split 5–13 5th 2019 LCS Summer Split 9–9 4th 2019 LCS Summer Playoffs 2–3 (against CLG) 1st 2019 LCS Regional Qualifier 3–2 (against TSM) 13th–16th 2019 World Championship 0–6 (main event)

Academy team Placement Event Final result (W–L) 7th 2018 NA Academy Spring Split 8–10 4th 2018 NA Academy Summer Split 10–8 5th–6th 2018 NA Academy Summer Playoffs 2–3 (against FlyQuest Academy) 10th 2019 NA Academy Spring Split 3–15 9th 2019 NA Academy Summer Split 6–12

References

1. Mickunas, Aaron (November 20, 2017). "Houston Rockets' head of esports on joining the NA LCS: "We're just really excited to get started"". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
2. "League of Legends meets NBA as teams backed by Warriors, Rockets face off". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
3. "Traditional sports owners now have teams in Overwatch, League of Legends, and more". January 30, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
4. "Sources: NA LCS team roster finalized with Rockets". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
5. "Sources: Rockets-owned Clutch Gaming looking to get Apollo, LirA and Hakuho". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
6. "Sources: Febiven, Solo sign with Clutch Gaming". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
7. "NA LCS 2018 Spring Split | Teams and Standings". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
8. Li, Xing (March 22, 2018). "What happened to Clutch Gaming?". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
9. Li, Xing (March 24, 2018). "All eyes are on the bot lane when Clutch Gaming face TSM tomorrow". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
10. Li, Xing (March 25, 2018). "Clutch Gaming dismantle TSM to advance to the NA LCS semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
11. Mickunas, Aaron (April 1, 2018). "Aphromoo will face Doublelift in the NA LCS finals after 100 Thieves win a grueling 5-game series against Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
12. Donigan, Wyatt (April 1, 2018). "LoL: 100 Thieves beats Clutch in five-game semifinal". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
13. Mickunas, Aaron (April 7, 2018). "Echo Fox sweep Clutch Gaming to secure third place in the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
14. "NA LCS 2018 Summer Split | Teams and Standings". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
15. Goslin, Austen (September 13, 2018). "How to watch the 2018 NA LCS Regional Qualifier gauntlet: Streams, schedule and results". The Rift Herald. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
16. Geddes, Chase (September 14, 2018). "Echo Fox survives Round 1 of NA LCS gauntlet". ESPN. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
17. Binkowski, Justin (November 24, 2018). "Echo Fox reportedly set to acquire Solo, Apollo, and Hakuho from Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
18. Wolf, Jacob (November 23, 2018). "Sources: Huni to sign with Clutch Gaming". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
19. Abbas, Malcolm (November 23, 2018). "Report: Echo Fox's Huni set to join Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
20. Wolf, Jacob (November 24, 2018). "Sources: Clutch Gaming to sign Damonte". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
21. Binkowski, Justin (November 24, 2018). "Clutch Gaming reportedly signs Damonte to complete its 2019 NA LCS roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
22. Goslin, Austen (July 27, 2018). "Piglet returns to the LCS as the new ADC for Clutch Gaming". Retrieved January 12, 2019.
23. Zamora, Steven (May 29, 2019). "Clutch Gaming: 2019 Summer Split Preview". The Game Haus. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
24. Esguerra, Tyler (May 27, 2019). "Cody Sun will be Clutch Gaming's starting ADC for week one of the 2019 LCS Summer Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
25. Li, Xing (August 4, 2019). "Huni's Rumble helps Clutch beat Golden Guardians, secure an LCS playoff seed". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
26. Esguerra, Tyler (August 11, 2019). "Clutch Gaming take down TSM to qualify for the 2019 LCS Summer Split semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
27. Kolev, Radoslav (August 11, 2019). "Cody Sun, Clutch Gaming trample TSM in LCS quarterfinals". VPEsports. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
28. Abbas, Malcolm (August 19, 2019). "Team Liquid qualify for Worlds after semifinal win over Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
29. Li, Xing (August 25, 2019). "CLG reverse sweep Clutch in the LCS third place match". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
30. Abbas, Malcolm (September 6, 2019). "Clutch Gaming begin Worlds qualifier [sic] gauntlet run with win over FlyQuest". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
31. Samples, Rachel (September 7, 2019). "Clutch keep their gauntlet run alive after taking down CLG". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
32. Endres, Elena (September 8, 2019). "Clutch reverse sweep TSM to secure a spot at Worlds". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
33. @lolesports (October 4, 2019). "Tiebreakers explained: ..." (Tweet). Retrieved October 4, 2019 – via Twitter.
34. "Clutch Gaming, Splyce win their groups on Day 3 of League of Legends World Championship play-ins". ESPN. October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
35. Endres, Elena (October 7, 2019). "Clutch Gaming advance to the main stage at Worlds 2019". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
36. Esuguerra, Tyler (October 14, 2019). "What can Clutch Gaming do to change their winless start to Worlds 2019?". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
37. Esuguerra, Tyler (October 19, 2019). "Clutch Gaming eliminated from Worlds 2019 after a horrible backdoor attempt against Fnatic". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
38. Hermann, Adam (June 6, 2019). "76ers owners Harris Blitzer acquire esports' Clutch Gaming for reported $30 million". PhillyVoice. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
39. Yim, Miles (November 18, 2019). "People are investing millions into League of Legends franchises. Will the bet pay off?". Washington Post. Retrieved November 22, 2019.