Nukes Announces Retirement From League of Legends

Risto “Nukes” Luuri announced his retirement from League of Legends. He unveiled his decision on Thursday, August 5, with a Twitlonger post on his social media.

Nukes Will Instead Focus On Education

In his announcement post, Nukes announced that he is retiring as a professional LoL esports player and will instead focus on studying at university. The 23-year-old first contemplated playing LoL part-time while studying but decided against it.

In the retirement post, Nukes talked about how he lost the desire to keep on competing at a professional level. Instead, he found more enjoyment in reading books, stating he got over his video game addiction.

“During the off-season in April/my split with Axolotl, I have discovered a bunch of new things that I am interested in that is outside video games,” said Nukes.
“Going into the future, I will spend my free time learning and studying about these subjects. I will give a small list, so you get the idea: investing, cryptocurrency, economy, finance, history, human psychology, programming.”

By deciding to exit the professional esports scene, Nukes ended an illustrious career that began in January 2013.

Eight Years In The Scene

Nukes began his LoL esports career in January 2013, when he joined a stack of players, Miribilis, as a mid laner. After two years, Nukes moved to JuicyLip, where he spent just a month and signed his first contract with Copenhagen Wolves in December 2015.

Nukes made his professional debut in the European Challenger Series (EUCS) in January 2016. He helped his team finish fourth in the regular season and ended the playoffs with a silver medal.

Unfortunately, Copenhagen Wolves failed to qualify for the EU LCS, losing to Giants Gaming (2-3). Nukes moved away from the Wolves after one split and joined Nerv, where he spent only four months before joining ALTERNATE aTTaX and later BIG.

With BIG, Nukes placed fourth at ESLM 2019 Spring and top-four in the playoffs, helping the German esports team qualify for the European Masters 2019 Spring. There, BIG finished top-eight.

Nukes left BIG for SK Gaming Prime in July 2019 and enjoyed a short stint with Vodafone Giants in October – December 2019. It wasn’t, however, until late 2019 when Nukes joined Schalke 04.

After spending six months playing for Schalke 04’s academy roster, Nukes received a promotion into the main team. He made his LoL European Championship (LEC) debut in June 2020 as a substitute support player.

With Schalke 04, Nukes reached playoffs but did not get a chance to play in the postseason. Instead, he returned back to S04′ Academy roster, who he helped finish runners-up at PRM Pro Division 2020.

Nukes left Schalke 04 organization in November 2020 and joined GamersOrigin in the French league. After a short three-month stint, Nukes transitioned to an Italian team, Axolotl, where he spent the last two months of his professional career.

Although Nukes failed to win any major titles throughout his career, he had the privilege to play alongside some of the biggest LoL esports stars.

A list of his former teammates includes Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther, Elias “Upset” Lipp, Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság, and Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz.

What’s Next for Nukes?

While Nukes found it hard to quit League of Legends, he has stated that he believes this is the right choice. Instead of trying to succeed as an esports star, the 23-year-old instead decided to follow his heart and start studying mathematics.

“I am taking the path of least resistance or as I would like to call it “following my heart” and from 30. August this year, I will start studying mathematics.”

This, however, isn’t the end of the road for Nukes and his love for video games. Although he will no longer be involved in the professional scene, Nukes has expressed he still likes the game and that he is not ready to give up on it altogether.