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Clutch Gaming
A stylized yellow letter 'G' within a larger black letter 'C'.
Short nameCG
GameLeague of Legends
Founded2017 (2017)
Folded2019 (2019)
LeagueLeague of Legends Championship Series
Based inHouston, Texas
Owner

Clutch Gaming (CG) was an American esports organization founded by the Houston Rockets in 2017. It had a professional League of Legends team that competed in North America's League of Legends Championship Series (LCS).[a] In 2019, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment acquired a majority stake in Clutch Gaming and merged it with Dignitas.

The team saw mixed success in its two years of competition. Although Clutch Gaming was never able to reach the LCS finals, it did qualify for the 2019 World Championship after winning that year's regional qualifier. At the World Championship, the team managed to advance from the play-in stage to the group stage of the main event. However, Clutch Gaming was eliminated after failing to pick up a win in what commentators described as a "group of death".

History

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Founding

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Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends, announced on May 31, 2017, that the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) would discontinue its promotion and relegation system and adopt a franchise model reminiscent of traditional sports leagues by the 2018 season.[2] ESPN reported in October 2017 that Riot Games had accepted an application from the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association to join the NA LCS.[3] On November 20, 2017, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta confirmed his organization's acquisition of a spot in the NA LCS, as well as the team's name: Clutch Gaming.[4]

Clutch Gaming's inaugural roster consisted of Solo, Lira, Febiven, Apollo, and Hakuho. Lira, Apollo, and Hakuho were previously members of Team Envy, which competed in the 2017 NA LCS season but was not accepted into the franchised league.[5] Solo joined from Gold Coin United of the North American Challenger Series, the secondary league of the NA LCS, while Febiven came from H2K of the European League of Legends Championship Series.[6][7]

2018 season

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Clutch Gaming finished sixth in the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split regular season with a record of 11 wins and 9 losses, after losing tiebreaker matches against Team SoloMid (TSM) and Cloud9.[8][9] Despite having what Xing Li of Dot Esports described as a "strong enough start" to the regular season, Clutch Gaming struggled against the top-tier teams of the league, although they managed a win against second-place Echo Fox near the season's end.[8][9] Clutch Gaming's regular season placement qualified the team for their inaugural playoffs run, with TSM being their first opponents in the quarterfinals.[8][10] TSM, then the NA LCS's three-time defending champions, were favored by analysts to win the matchup due to their players' experience and the team's longstanding domestic dominance.[10] However, in an upset result, Clutch Gaming defeated TSM 3–1, advancing to the semifinals and knocking TSM out of playoffs; it marked the first time TSM had missed an NA LCS finals.[11] The team's playoff success was nonetheless short-lived. Clutch Gaming lost 2–3 to 100 Thieves in a close semifinals series, with the last game lasting 74 minutes.[12][13] The team ultimately finished fourth in playoffs after Echo Fox defeated them 3–0 in the third-place decider match.[14]

Clutch Gaming ended the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split regular season in ninth place with a 6–12 record and did not qualify for playoffs.[15][16] However, the team's fourth-place playoff finish in the previous split earned them a spot in the 2018 NA LCS Regional Qualifier for that year's World Championship (colloquially "Worlds").[16] Echo Fox once again defeated Clutch Gaming 3–0 in the first round of the regional qualifier, eliminating Clutch Gaming from Worlds contention.[17]

In late November 2018, Clutch Gaming and Echo Fox traded players in preparation for the upcoming 2019 LCS Spring Split (the league had rebranded and removed "NA" from its name[18]). Solo, Apollo, and Hakuho joined Echo Fox, and in return, Clutch Gaming received Huni and Damonte.[19][20][21] Piglet and Vulcan, who had been promoted from Clutch Gaming's academy team during the summer regular season, completed the roster.[19][22]

2019 season

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Despite victories against playoff contenders, including eventual spring finalists TSM, Clutch Gaming concluded the 2019 LCS Spring Split regular season in ninth place again, this time with a 5–13 record.[23][24] The team subsequently announced that it would replace Piglet with Cody Sun as the team's starting bot laner for the summer split. During the spring split, Cody Sun had been playing for Clutch Gaming's academy team, but he played for the main team for one weekend's games.[23][25]

Clutch Gaming's final victory against Golden Guardians at the end of the 2019 LCS Summer Split regular season secured them a spot in playoffs.[26] The team ended the regular season in fifth place with a 9–9 record, avoiding a three-way tie for sixth.[27] In the quarterfinals Clutch Gaming once again defeated TSM 3–1, moving on to the semifinals, where they lost 2–3 to Team Liquid in a close series.[28][29][30] Clutch Gaming was then defeated by Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) in the third-place decider match, forcing the team to play through the regional qualifier once again for a chance to qualify for the 2019 World Championship.[31] After defeating FlyQuest and CLG in the first and second rounds of the gauntlet, respectively, Clutch Gaming found themselves facing TSM yet again in the qualifying round.[32][33] TSM began the series with two victories but were ultimately defeated by Clutch Gaming. With their final win over TSM after running the entire gauntlet, Clutch Gaming qualified for Worlds as the LCS's third seed. It marked not only the team's debut at Worlds but also the individual debuts of Lira, Damonte, and Vulcan.[34]

Clutch Gaming began their Worlds run in the play-in stage, where they were placed in group A with the League of Legends Continental League's Unicorns of Love and the Oceanic Pro League's Mammoth.[35][36] Group A was locked in a three-way tie after each team defeated one opponent but failed to beat the other in two round robins.[35] Clutch Gaming avoided the first tiebreaker match due to them having the shortest total game time among their victories.[37] The Unicorns of Love defeated Mammoth in the first tiebreaker match but fell to Clutch Gaming in the second, despite previously defeating them twice during the round robins. Clutch Gaming thus emerged as the first seed of their group and advanced to the qualifying round of the play-in stage.[35] Clutch Gaming subsequently defeated Royal Youth of the Turkish Championship League 3–0 to secure a spot in the main event.[38]

For the group stage of the main event, Clutch Gaming was placed in Group C, widely described by commentators as the "group of death" due to it having three regional powerhouses: South Korea's SK Telecom T1, China's Royal Never Give Up, and Europe's Fnatic.[36][39] Clutch Gaming ended their Worlds run with a 0–6 record in the group stage, failing to pick up a single win in two round robins.[40]

Near the end of 2019, Clutch Gaming merged with Dignitas, an inaugural member of the NA LCS whose application to the franchised LCS had previously been rejected in 2017.[41] Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the owners of Dignitas, had earlier bought a majority stake in Clutch Gaming for over US$30 million, on June 6, 2019.[42]

Season-by-season records

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Year League of Legends Championship Series[a] Mid-Season Invitational World Championship Ref.
P W L W–L Pos. Playoffs
2018 Spring 20 11 9 .550 6th Semifinals Did not qualify Did not qualify [9][13]
Summer 18 6 12 .333 9th Did not qualify [15]
2019 Spring 18 5 13 .278 9th Did not qualify Did not qualify Group stage [23][24]
Summer 18 9 9 .500 5th Semifinals [27][31][40]

Accomplishments and awards

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LCS Second-Place Rookie

LCS All-Pro Third Team

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Known as the North American League of Legends Championship Series (NA LCS) from 2013 to 2018.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "LCS | League Championship Series". Esports.net. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  2. ^ Volk, Pete (June 1, 2017). "NA LCS is franchising. Here's what that means". Polygon. Retrieved April 6, 2025. Riot Games revealed its plans to franchise the North American League of Legends Championship Series Wednesday [May 31, 2017], following up on an initial announcement of intended franchising in 2016. Now we know more about the process and timeline: franchising is scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2018 season. All NA LCS teams will be permanent partners of the league, which means the elimination of the promotion and relegation system.
  3. ^ Wolf, Jacob (October 19, 2017). "Sources: NA LCS team roster finalized with Rockets". ESPN. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  4. ^ 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. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  5. ^ "Sources: Rockets-owned Clutch Gaming looking to get Apollo, LirA and Hakuho". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  6. ^ "Sources: Febiven, Solo sign with Clutch Gaming". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Goslin, Austen (August 11, 2017). "Follow the star-studded NA LCS Promotion Tournament here". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 7, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Li, Xing (March 22, 2018). "What happened to Clutch Gaming?". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "NA LCS 2018 Spring Split | Teams and Standings". LoL Esports. Riot Games. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Li, Xing (March 24, 2018). "All eyes are on the bot lane when Clutch Gaming face TSM tomorrow". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  11. ^ Li, Xing (March 25, 2018). "Clutch Gaming dismantle TSM to advance to the NA LCS semifinals". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  12. ^ 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. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  13. ^ a b Donigan, Wyatt (April 1, 2018). "LoL: 100 Thieves beats Clutch in five-game semifinal". ESPN. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  14. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (April 7, 2018). "Echo Fox sweep Clutch Gaming to secure third place in the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. ^ a b "NA LCS 2018 Summer Split | Teams and Standings". LoL Esports. Riot Games. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Goslin, Austen (September 13, 2018). "How to watch the 2018 NA LCS Regional Qualifier gauntlet: Streams, schedule and results". The Rift Herald. Archived from the original on January 26, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  17. ^ Geddes, Chase (September 14, 2018). "Echo Fox survives Round 1 of NA LCS gauntlet". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  18. ^ Goslin, Austen (December 13, 2018). "The NA LCS is changing its name and returning on Jan. 26 2019". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  19. ^ a b Jang, David (November 28, 2018). "[Official] Huni Joins Clutch Gaming with Damonte". Inven Global. Archived from the original on November 30, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  20. ^ Binkowski, Justin (November 24, 2018). "Echo Fox reportedly set to acquire Solo, Apollo, and Hakuho from Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  21. ^ Binkowski, Justin (November 24, 2018). "Clutch Gaming reportedly signs Damonte to complete its 2019 NA LCS roster". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  22. ^ Goslin, Austen (July 27, 2018). "Piglet returns to the LCS as the new ADC for Clutch Gaming". The Rift Herald. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  23. ^ a b c Zamora, Steven (May 29, 2019). "Clutch Gaming: 2019 Summer Split Preview". The Game Haus. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Clutch Gaming complete dramatic turnaround to make world championship". ESPN. September 9, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  25. ^ 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. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  26. ^ Li, Xing (August 4, 2019). "Huni's Rumble helps Clutch beat Golden Guardians, secure an LCS playoff seed". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  27. ^ a b Lam, Kien (August 7, 2019). "6 thoughts going into Playoffs". Riot Games. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  28. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (August 11, 2019). "Clutch Gaming take down TSM to qualify for the 2019 LCS Summer Split semifinals". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  29. ^ Kolev, Radoslav (August 11, 2019). "Cody Sun, Clutch Gaming trample TSM in LCS quarterfinals". VPEsports. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  30. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (August 19, 2019). "Team Liquid qualify for Worlds after semifinal win over Clutch Gaming". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Li, Xing (August 25, 2019). "CLG reverse sweep Clutch in the LCS third place match". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  32. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (September 6, 2019). "Clutch Gaming begin Worlds qualifier gauntlet run with win over FlyQuest". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  33. ^ Samples, Rachel (September 7, 2019). "Clutch keep their gauntlet run alive after taking down CLG". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  34. ^ Endres, Elena (September 8, 2019). "Clutch reverse sweep TSM to secure a spot at Worlds". Dot Esports. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  35. ^ a b c "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.
  36. ^ a b "2019 League of Legends World Championship team power rankings". ESPN. September 24, 2019. Archived from the original on April 15, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2025.
  37. ^ @lolesports (October 4, 2019). "Tiebreakers explained: ..." (Tweet). Retrieved October 4, 2019 – via Twitter.
  38. ^ Endres, Elena (October 7, 2019). "Clutch Gaming advance to the main stage at Worlds 2019". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  39. ^ O'Dwyer, Samuel (October 1, 2019). "What to expect from Clutch Gaming at Worlds 2019". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on June 13, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  40. ^ a b Esuguerra, Tyler (October 19, 2019). "Clutch Gaming eliminated from Worlds 2019 after a horrible backdoor attempt against Fnatic". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
  41. ^ Yim, Miles (November 18, 2019). "People are investing millions into League of Legends franchises. Will the bet pay off?". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  42. ^ 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.
  43. ^ "2019 Spring Split LCS Award Winners". League of Legends Esports. March 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  44. ^ a b "2018 NA LCS Spring Split Award Winners". League of Legends Esports. March 24, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
  45. ^ "2019 LCS Summer Split Awards". League of Legends Esports. August 9, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
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