In 2018, Cloud 9 was looking for a new mid-laner for their team in League of Legends. They were particularly interested in Caps, who was under contract with Fnatic at that time. However, he did not want to move to America, no matter how much money was offered.
Where does this story come from? In the podcast “The Crack Down,” former pro player Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera and eSports journalist Duncan “Thorin” Shields discuss current events surrounding League of Legends.
In episode 16, Jack Etienne, the CEO of Cloud 9, was a guest. Together they discussed the situation of North American teams, which are struggling to recruit players from other regions.
Thorin noted that many European talents would rather stay with one of the top teams in Europe for half the salary than move to the best American team for significantly more money. This also led to the anecdote about pro player Caps.
“Caps didn’t care how much money he was offered”
Why did Caps prefer to stay in Europe? Jack Etienne shared in the podcast that Caps saw better chances for international success in Europe:
Caps didn’t care how much money he was offered. He felt: “I will have international success with G2 [Esports], and you can’t offer me that. So I’m not interested.
Jack Etienne, CEO of Cloud 9
As it turned out, Caps’ decision was probably the right one. With G2 Esports, he achieved the first victory of a European team in the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
In 2019, the team even came close to the Grand Slam, for which they had to:
- Win both split halves in their region
- The MSI
- The LoL Worlds.
They only failed in the finals of the Worlds.
What is America’s problem? North American teams have not had international success in recent years. In 2019, all 3 teams were eliminated in the group stage.
The teams have problems with developing talent and are not attractive to players from other regions. The coach of G2 Esports even claimed that players who move from EU to NA give up winning.
In 2019, only ADC Kobbe and jungler Broxah from Fnatic moved from Europe to America. Both have not had a good season so far.
- Kobbe reached rank 4 with TSM, but transferred back to Europe to Misfits in May 2020.
- Broxah initially had visa issues. Overall, Team Liquid only placed 9th out of 10 in the Spring Split.
For Caps, however, the start of the season went well. With G2 Esports, he won the European playoffs and set a viewer record.
