The 2017 World Champion, Crown Retires From League of Legends

Crown, the 2017 Leagues of Legends World Championship winner, has announced that he has retired from the professional League of Legends.

The 25 years old Korean League of Legends player, with real names Lee Min-ho, took to his Instagram page to announce the new development to his fans on December 1st.

He stated that this was the last time he will be addressing the fans with the name Crown. See the translated excerpt below;

This is Lee “Crown” Min-ho, who was active with the nickname, Crown.

I’m writing this so that I can greet all of you and the fans for the last time under the nickname: Crown.

The mid laner star first made his name in the StarCraft world before switching over to the league. Crown, who has played for both Korean and North America, became a part of LCK in 2015, playing under the Samsung Galaxy banner.

The World’s Champion

Lee finished 6th, 4th in the LCK Spring and Summer splits, respectively, in 2016. Thereafter, he booked a ticket to the Worlds through a Regional final victory, which he won in the 2017 World Championship title.

His debut into the Worlds had him and Samsung Galaxy a play-offs spot after losing only a match to Team SOloMid during the group stage battle. The team went on to snatch a win against Cloud9 and H2K before narrowly losing to SK Telecom T1 in the Grand Final. Crown and the team took their revenge on SK Telecom T1 at the 2017 World Championship, defeating their Korean Counterpart by 3-0 to snatch the title.

Crown Hoped to Conquer the North American Esports Scene

After his World Championship title win, he signed on with Gen.G. Lee Min-ho, who played for Gen.G for the 2018 season, left the team upon finishing the Worlds at the 13th-16th position. He thought it wise to make a career-defining move to the North American esports scene for the 2019 LCS season by joining Optic Gaming. He, however, did not triumph in this new region and, as such, moved back to Korea following a brief period with CLG. The mid laner joined the Challengers Korea team OZ Gaming and finishing third in the league’s 2020 Summer season.

Crown Retires from Professional League of Legends

Crown takes a bow as he took to his Instagram page to say he was grateful and thankful for the many acquaintances, the amazing moments, coincidences, and the good luck he has received throughout his professional career.

See the translated excerpt below;

I’m grateful and thankful for so many acquaintances, all the moments, coincidences, and luck. Thank you.

He added, saying that from a certain point in his career, it used to be fun, interesting, and competitive, but now all his thoughts were filled with negative thoughts, and now it has become stressful. He went on to say that he had dreamt about things that he can not possibly attain and that he thinks it is finally time to let go.

See translated except below;

From a certain point, rather than being fun, interesting, and competitive, all my thoughts were filled with negative thoughts and it started getting stressful. I was dreaming things that I can’t realistically reach and said “this one more time, next one more time” and endured pathetically up to now. I think it’s finally time to let go.

His next move is still unknown as he has not confirmed whether he fancies a return to the competitive gaming scene or not. He, however, could take on the role of competitive Leagues of Legends coach or an analyst sometime in the nearest future.