After signing Juan Arturo “Contractz” Garcia as part of a new age for the organization, Counter Logic Gaming announced their full LCS roster on Friday. This roster includes Thomas “Jenkins” Tran, Cristian “Palafox” Palafox, Faith “Luger” Güven and Philippe “Poome” Lavoie-Giguere.
𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐠𝐞.
We are excited to announce our 2022 #LCS roster.
Top: @BobjenkinsLoL
Jungle: @Contractz
Mid: @palafoxlol
Adc: @lugerlol
Support: @poomelol(pending Riot approval)#CLGFIGHTING #CLGWIN pic.twitter.com/4XRTO4yPtP
— NRG League (@NRGLeague) November 19, 2021
All five players will represent CLG in the upcoming LCS 2022 season. Asides from bot laner Luger, all players are from the North American region. Like Contractz, both Luger and Poome were former members of 100 Thieves Academy.
Meanwhile, Palafox spent a considerable amount of his time with FlyQuest, alternating between their Academy and LCS roster. CLG’s new top laner, Jenkins, is also an Academy product from Team Liquid who played the part of the LCS summer split.
New Look for a CLG in LCS 2022 season
CLG are one of the only teams to completely change not only their starting roster but also their coaching staff. After ninth and tenth place finishes in the LCS spring and summer splits respectively, CLG decided to take a different approach to the new season. Their previous roster was a mixture of European imports as well as experienced LCS players.
For the LCS 2022 season, their roster consists of promising talents with less LCS experience. Some of the players like Palafox and Jenkins were involved in the LCs 2021 summer split. Poome also played in the LCS 2020 summer split with his previous team.
Additionally, CLG acquired Golden Guardians Academy head coach, Thomas “Thinkcard” Slotkin and strategic coach, Chris “Croissant” Sun. Both coaches also have LCS experience and will rely on it to usher CLG into a new age in the league. The organization has failed to qualify for Playoffs since 2019 and will hope that a different approach to the new season works in their favor.
