League of Legends: Perkz leaves Cloud9 after one year
Cloud9 (C9) and Luka “Perkz” Perkovic have officially parted ways, the LCS team said on Friday. C9 has yet to release additional information on who will take Perkz’s position in the roster.
The 23-year-old completed his move to LCS after his World Championship dream with G2 Esports in 2020 was cut short. Perkz joined an All-Star squad with rookie sensation Fudge, dependable jungler Robert “Blaber” Huang, former G2 teammate Zven, and star NA resident support Vulcan.
This move shocked the League of Legends community since a large part of the community undoubtedly considers Perkz as one of the best — if not the best — Western players in the present time. He carried G2 Esports to a World Final and is known among fans to perform his best under immense pressure.
On the paper, the C9 team looks invincible — however, they have been under scrutiny for their lack of consistency, which has haunted the team in recent memory. Perkz played an enigmatic character on the team, and sometimes he committed some mistakes and misplays, yet also created highlight moments and game-defining moves.
Perkz’s achievements and future
In his short spell with C9, Perkz played a huge role in taking the championship of the 2021 LCS Spring Split and the 2021 LCS Mid-Season Showdown, as well as finishing fourth in the 2021 LCS Summer Split and third in the 2021 LCS Championship.
The Croatian midlaner was an inseparable instrument in the C9 qualifying run for this year’s World Championship, where they were virtually unstoppable. C9 defeated both the LEC’s Rogue and the LPL’s FunPlus Phoenix to qualify for the event’s knockout stage.
It was one of the most breathtaking performances as many pundits called their group the Group of Death with teams like FPX and Korea’s DWG KIA. In the end, Perkz and C9 were swept out of the tournament by Korea’s Gen.G Esports in the quarterfinals.
Many thought the former Millenium and Gamers2 player should have been given another chance for the next tournaments, but Cloud9 seems to think otherwise. Multiple sources reported that Perkz would be returning home to Europe on Team Vitality.
Perkz buyout saga
Prior to his departure from C9, Perkz was on the headlines after Dot Esports reported that G2 and C9 allegedly tried to block his transfer to Fnatic last year.
However, after a thorough investigation by Riot Games, it was found that “no harm was done to the player”, and as a result, both C9 and G2 will not be given any penalty.
The League of Legends Championship Series Player’s Association (LCSPA) also weighed in on the situation.
“The LCSPA is independently investigating the circumstances of this report and will fight any agreement that illegally or unethically restricts player movement or alters player bargaining power,” LCSPA wrote in a statement.
This transfer includes three countries — C9 is in the United States, G2 in Germany, and Fnatic in the UK — which means the transfer would be legally complicated.
LoL Esports Director of Operations Tom Martell released a statement regarding the ongoing situation.
“Our current rules governing player transfers do not explicitly prohibit restrictions on future transfers by the receiving team, so we will not penalize G2 and C9 for including such a clause in their agreement,” Martell said.
“However, as we recently communicated to G2, C9, and FNC, Riot does not intend to enforce the trade restriction and would recognize the transfer of Perkz to any team upon receipt of the appropriate paperwork in accordance with league rules.”
Martell then clarified that in the future, the rules would be updated to “prohibit future restrictions in transfer agreements” because they are not aligned with the sport’s values and interests.
