Nien announces his retirement from the main CLG lineup following poor performance in the LCS and public scrutiny.
Today, Nien and Counter Logic Gaming announced the news that CLG's top laner, Nientonsoh, would be dropping down from the starting lineup, and leaving the CLG house. In an interview with Travis Gafford of OnGamers, and through a public announcement by Counter Logic Gaming manager Kelby, it was revealed that Nien would be stepping down from his top lane role in the main roster to a substitute role, and does not intend to return to the starting lineup unless a suitable replacement cannot be found.
Why leave?
Nien stated that the choice to step down was his own. Reasons as to this decision revolve around his lack of confidence of his own skill, and poor performance as of late, as well as the overbearing opinion of the vocal community. Nien said that he feels like his skill level at the moment is not up to scratch, which is obvious to those following the NA LCS as many have criticised him as the weak link of an improving, top 3 CLG team, and that the team can do much better with a top tier player as a replacement, possibly becoming an internationally successful team. A big factor towards this decision was the community backlash that Nien received due to his performance, with fans left disappointed in his play and suggesting that he be replaced.
Looking forward for Nien
Nien has moved down to the substitute roster for CLG, however does not look to return to the main lineup unless It is necessary, as he feels his skills must improve vastly to compete at a top tier level. Nien’s plans are to leave the competitive scene to both improve his personal life and also improve as a player, playing in solo queue and streaming before coming back into the scene to find a world class team, most likely remaining as a top laner, when his skills feel adequate. As for now, he plans on moving back home in SoCal.
Looking forward for CLG
As a team that constantly defy logic, swapping around their roster and bringing in new players, the possibilities are large for the next move CLG will take. Straight up replacing Nien with a world class top laner is the obvious choice, however as stated by Doublelift, the top lane talent pool for the top lane is fairly small in the NA scene, as opposed to the other regions, although CLG could well consider bringing in a player from another region (Like the fan favourite friendly Korean player, Maknoon).
The other option, as stated by the team, is to move Link to the top lane, as he is a highly skilled and versatile player, as discovered during his time playing jungle for the team, and finding a new mid laner, as the talent pool across all regions seems to be large for the mid lane, with players like Shiphtur, Mancloud and Pobelter all being viable options.
A less realistic but also possible option, is to draw from their large pool of former players to come back and join the roster. Whichever route Kelby, Montecristo and CLG decide to take, it will be in the hope of continuing their improvement of being in the top 3 teams in NA, and qualifying for the season 4 world finals with a roster that can find success internationally.
