by Jeremy Waxman on May 14, 2015
Link has been the focus of community criticism (rightly or wrongly) for some time now, but that doesn't seem to have much to do with his decision to step down from his position with Counter Logic Gaming. As with almost roster swaps lately, this was a voluntary move on the player's part, as he no longer felt he had a place on the team. Link actually posted a very long detailed message about exactly what his experience has been like with CLG, and even before that spanning the entirety of his professional career. Those looking for insights from the player's perspective can check out that post here.
In reading the post, it's clear that while it wasn't all bad, Link was overall quite dissatisfied with the way the team operated, and he didn't feel he could be a part of it anymore. CLG didn't waste much time finding his replacements in preparing for the Summer Split. Yes, that is replacements, plural. Former mid laner of Winterfox, Pobelter, and HuHi, previously with Team Fusion, will share responsibilities in the mid lane. CLG envisions a scenario similar to that of SK Telecom T1, where they have two talented mid laners who can seamlessly trade off time playing throughout the season. I believe this is a tactic that teams can certainly benefit from, but as the first North American team to really attempt it (though Team Liquid did without intending to), this will be an interesting test case to see if it can really work.
As for Link's future plans, he had this to say:
"I’ll be going back to school and making guides/analytical work to maybe one help people get better. I’m confident about my own ability and still think a lot of people are behind in the way they think about the game. Probably stream more or something."
I wish him luck in whatever comes next, and look forward to CLG's two mid laner experiment to see how it works out.