Former LCS champion mid laner retires from professional LoL

After a successful debut in the North American League of Legends circuit, a top LCS mid lane talent has decided to hang up his mouse and keyboard.

Cloud9 mid laner EMENES announced on his Instagram today that he will be stepping away from the professional League scene to complete his mandatory military service in South Korea. After he completes his service, however, he will not be returning to pro play and will instead be completing his studies to become a veterinarian, according to a machine translation of his post.

The 22-year-old joined C9 at the start of 2023 and played for the organization’s Academy team for a short while before being promoted to the main roster over Dimitri “Diplex” Ponomarev in February. During his time with C9, EMENES captured an LCS championship in his debut season and even reached the finals in the following split.

Unfortunately for C9 fans, the team’s regional success wasn’t able to translate too well to the 2023 World Championship, where the team eventually dropped out of the tournament after a lackluster Swiss stage performance. They were only able to win a single game against Europe’s MAD Lions while suffering losses against top squads like LNG Esports, T1, and Fnatic, pushing the squad into an early offseason.

EMENES has traveled across the globe over the course of the past five years and has played for multiple different teams in other regions. His career took him to Korea, Turkey, Oceania, Europe, and North America, making him a true journeyman of the sport.

In the meantime, C9 must make some big decisions for its League division. With players like EMENES and Zven leaving the team, they will need to find some prime free agents to help them continue their reign near the top of the league in 2024.