Golden Guardians

Last updated

Golden Guardians
Goldenguardians logo.svg
Short nameGG (formerly GGS) [1]
Divisions Apex Legends
League of Legends
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Teamfight Tactics
World of Warcraft
FoundedNovember 20, 2017 (2017-11-20)
Folded2023
League LCS
Based in Oakland, California
Location United States
Parent group Golden State Warriors
Website www.goldenguardians.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

The Golden Guardians (GG) were an American esports organization owned by the Golden State Warriors. [2] [3] The organization was one of four that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) in 2018 after the league began franchising, the others being 100 Thieves, Clutch Gaming and OpTic Gaming. [4] [5] On December 18, 2019, the Golden Guardians announced their expansion into the professional scenes of Apex Legends , Teamfight Tactics and World of Warcraft . [6]

Contents

Super Smash Bros. Melee player Zain "Zain" Naghmi and Teamfight Tactics player David "DogDog" Caero were signed by the Golden Guardians on February 6, 2020. [7] On April 2, 2021, the organization announced the signings of Super Smash Bros. Melee player Edgard "n0ne" L. Sheleby, inactive player and streamer Kevin "PPMD" Nanney and commentator Kris "Toph" Aldenderfer. [8] On March 29, 2023, Zain announced his departure from the Golden Guardians; the following day, the organization announced the signings of Melee player Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto and player-commentator Brandon "HomeMadeWaffles" Collier. [9]

League of Legends

History

2018 season

The Golden Guardians finalized their roster for the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split on December 13, 2017, signing top laner Samson "Lourlo" Jackson, jungler Juan "Contractz" Arturo Garcia, mid laner Hai "Hai" Du Lam, bot laner Matthew "Deftly" Chen and support Matthew "Matt" Elento, with Choi "Locodoco" Yoon-seop as head coach for the team. On February 4, 2018, Locodoco was fired after making inappropriate remarks towards a female member of Riot Games' esports staff. The final decision was made by the Golden State Warriors, the parent company of the Golden Guardians, who cited their strict zero tolerance policy. [10] Assistant coach Tyler Perron was subsequently promoted to interim head coach to fill the vacant position. The team finished the regular season of the 2018 NA LCS Spring Split in tenth place with a 4–14 record. [11]

On April 23, 2018, the Golden Guardians acquired mid laner Young-min "Mickey" Son from Team Liquid, in preparation for the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split. [12] [13] Shortly afterwards, Hai announced his retirement from competitive play for the second time and left the team. [14] [15]

The Golden Guardians ended the 2018 NA LCS Summer Split in tenth place, with a 5–13 record, becoming the first team in the league's history to finish last two splits in a row. [16]

2019 season

In preparation for the 2019 LCS Spring Split (which had recently renamed to exclude "NA" from its title), the Golden Guardians acquired Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell and Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung from Team SoloMid and Team Liquid respectively. [17] [18] Veteran player Henrik "Froggen" Hansen later joined the team to complete the roster. [19] [20] The Golden Guardians also hired Nick "Inero" Smith as the Golden Guardians' new head coach and Danan Flander, former Cloud9 senior general manager, as the team's first general manager. [21]

Despite a disappointing start to the 2019 LCS Spring Split, the Golden Guardians managed to end the regular season in fifth place after losing a tiebreaker match to FlyQuest, with a 9–9 record. This secured the team their first appearance in playoffs, [22] where they narrowly lost 2–3 to FlyQuest in the quarterfinals. [23] During the first half of the summer split the Golden Guardians kept the same starting lineup from the spring split, but later opted to promote bot laner Victor "FBI" Huang and support Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun from the academy team. [24] Deftly was later traded to Cloud9 Academy for Yuri "Keith" Jew. [25] The Golden Guardians ended the summer split tied for sixth with 100 Thieves and OpTic Gaming. After losing their tiebreaker match to OpTic Gaming, the Golden Guardians were locked out of playoffs. [26]

2020 season

2021 season

2022 season

2023 season

For the 2023 LCS Spring Split, the Golden Guardians acquired mid laner Kim "Gori" Tae-woo from Hong Kong team PSG Talon. Huhi returned as the team's support, while top laner Eric "Licorice" Ritchie, jungler Kim "River" Dong-woo, and bot laner Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes were retained from the previous split.

On July 21, 2023, the Golden Guardians defeated 100 Thieves to end the summer split regular season with 13 wins, the most in the organization's history. [27] The team attributed their success to "hard work", "the power of friendship", and "taco Fridays". [28]

Final roster

Golden Guardians League of Legends roster
PlayersCoaches
RoleHandleNameNationality
Top Licorice Ritchie, EricCanada
JungleRiverKim Dong-wooSouth Korea
MidGoriKim Tae-wooSouth Korea
Bot Stixxay Hayes, TrevorUnited States
Support huhi Choi Jae-hyunSouth Korea
Head coach

Samuel "Spookz" Broadley

Assistant coach(es)

Aaron "Chuz" Bland

Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Roster updated January 27, 2023.

Tournament results

PlacementEventFinal result (W–L)

Super Smash Bros. Melee

History

Super Smash Bros. Melee player Zain "Zain" Naghmi was signed by the Golden Guardians on February 6, 2020. [7] During 2020, Zain has won Pound Online, [29] the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2, [30] and Smash Summit 10, [31] all three of which took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 20, 2020, Golden Guardians hosted "The Octagon", a one-night showcase of some of Melee's top players competing in a first-to-five wins matchup with the main event being Zain vs Joseph "Mang0" Manuel Marquez, which Zain won 5–2.

On April 2, 2021, the organization announced the signings of Super Smash Bros. Melee player Edgard "n0ne" L. Sheleby, inactive player and streamer Kevin "PPMD" Nanney and commentator Kris "Toph" Aldenderfer. [8]

Zain was ranked the number one player in the world in 2022. [32]

On March 29, 2023, Zain announced his departure from the Golden Guardians; the following day, the organization announced the signings of then-#2-ranked [32] Melee player Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto and player-commentator Brandon "HomeMadeWaffles" Collier. [9]

Current roster

Golden Guardians Super Smash Bros. Melee roster
PlayersCoaches
HandleNameNationality
PPMD Nanney, KevinUnited States
n0neSheleby, EdgardCanada
TophAldenderfer, KrisUnited States
aMSa Chikamoto, MasayaJapan
HomeMadeWafflesCollier, BrandonUnited States
Head coach
  • Vacant
Legend:
  • (I) Inactive
  • (S) Suspended
  • Emojione BW 1F503.svg Substitute
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injury / Illness
  

Roster

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloud9</span> American esports organization

Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional League of Legends team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 2013 and was incorporated into Cloud9 Esports, Inc. on September 6, 2016. Cloud9 has received US$78 million in total raised equity via venture capital funding and was ranked the world's fifth-most valuable esports organization in mid-2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hai (gamer)</span> American professional esports player

HaiLam, better known as Hai, is an American former professional League of Legends player. He previously played mid lane for the Golden Guardians of the North American League of Legends Championship Series. Hai rose to prominence as the mid laner for Cloud9 (C9), leading them to two NA LCS championships. During a brief retirement due to health issues in 2015, he was Cloud9's Chief Gaming Officer. He returned to the team's lineup as their jungler and support to fill in for the split playoffs. He later became the mid laner for Cloud9 Challenger, which qualified for the LCS and was bought and rebranded as FlyQuest. Hai has won two NA LCS splits with Cloud9, as well as the NA LCS Promotion Tournament with Cloud9 Challenger. He is well known for his shot calling within the game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hauntzer</span> American professional esports player

Kevin Yarnell, better known by his in-game name Hauntzer, is a professional League of Legends player who is currently a free agent, and was most recently a part of TSM Academy as their toplaner. He has also played for Team SoloMid, Golden Guardians, and Gravity Gaming in the League of Legends Championship Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immortals (esports)</span> American professional esports organization

Immortals is a professional esports organization based in the United States owned by Immortals Gaming Club. It was founded on October 7, 2015, after the acquisition of Team 8's LCS spot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echo Fox</span> Former American esports franchise

Echo Fox was an American esports organization. It was founded on December 18, 2015, by retired basketball player Rick Fox, who created Echo Fox after he purchased the NA LCS spot of Gravity Gaming. The organization had expanded into various games with teams competing in titles such as Gears of War, Call of Duty, CS:GO, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Injustice 2,Madden NFL 19, Mortal Kombat, Super Smash Bros., and Street Fighter V. Echo Fox had several fighting game players with championship titles and are a well known organization in the professional scene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">100 Thieves</span> American lifestyle brand and gaming organization

100 Thieves, LLC is an American lifestyle brand and gaming organization based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2017 by Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag. The organization competes in several video games, including Call of Duty, League of Legends and Valorant. They currently operate three franchise teams, in the League Championship Series (LCS), Valorant Americas League and Call of Duty League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huhi</span> American League of Legends player

Choi Jae-hyun, better known as huhi, is an American professional League of Legends player for NRG of the LCS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huni (gamer)</span> South Korean League of Legends player

Heo Seung-hoon, better known as Huni, is a South Korean former professional League of Legends player. He is currently an analyst for Riot Games in LCK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dardoch</span> American professional esports player

Joshua Hartnett, better known as Dardoch, is an American professional League of Legends player. He was named Rookie of the Split for the 2016 NA LCS Spring Split.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamsu</span> South Korean professional esports player

Noh Yeong-Jin, better known as Gamsu, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. He began his professional esports career with League of Legends, playing as a top laner for several teams, such as Fnatic, Team Dignitas, and Samsung Galaxy Blue. Noh transitioned to professional Overwatch in 2016, competing for CONBOX in the OGN APEX Series. With the inception of the Overwatch League in 2017, Noh signed with the Boston Uprising before being traded to the Shanghai Dragons a season later. After one season with the Dragons, Noh signed with the Dallas Fuel. In late 2020, Noh retired from competitive Overwatch to pursue a career in League of Legends again. He played on 100 Thieves' academy teams until he was signed with Dignitas in mid-2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perkz</span> Croatian professional League of Legends player

Luka Perković, better known as Perkz, is a Croatian professional League of Legends player for Team Heretics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clutch Gaming</span> Former American esports franchise

Clutch Gaming (CG) was an American esports organization founded by the Houston Rockets in 2017. It was one of four organizations that joined the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) after the league began franchising in 2018, the others being 100 Thieves, the Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming. In 2019, Clutch Gaming was bought by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and merged with Dignitas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damonte (gamer)</span> American League of Legends player and coach

Tanner Damonte, better known mononymously as Damonte, is an American professional League of Legends player who is a positional coach for NRG Esports. In 2019, he was one of the few domestic mid laners to compete in North America's LCS, alongside other players like Goldenglue and Pobelter. He is particularly known for his mastery of the champion Qiyana.

Liyu "Cody" Sun is a Canadian professional League of Legends player who was most recently the bot laner for Mirage Elyandra of the Ligue Française de League of Legends (LFL). He first rose to prominence while playing for Immortals in 2017, qualifying for the World Championship in his debut year in the LCS. The next year he qualified with 100 Thieves, and again the year after with Clutch Gaming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldenglue</span> American League of Legends player and coach

Greyson Gregory Gilmer, better known by his in-game name Goldenglue, is an American League of Legends coach and former professional player. He is currently the head coach of 100 Thieves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zain (gamer)</span> American professional esports player

Zain Naghmi, more commonly known by his tag Zain, is an American Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Reston, Virginia. Beginning his career in 2014, he rapidly climbed the ranks, becoming a ranked top 100 player in the world within only two years, a top 10 player since 2018 and was ranked the number one player in the world in 2022. Naghmi plays Marth and is currently considered the best Marth player in the world. He was sponsored by Golden Guardians from February 2020 to March 2023. In April 2023, he was signed by Moist Esports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Licorice (gamer)</span> Canadian League of Legends player

Eric Ritchie, better known as Licorice, is a Canadian professional League of Legends player, and is currently a free agent. He most recently played for Golden Guardians of the League Championship Series (LCS). Prior to competing in the LCS, Ritchie played for LCS Challenger teams, such as Cloud9 Challenger and Team eUnited. Ritchie signed with Cloud9 ahead of the 2018 NA LCS season; in his rookie season, he was won the league's Rookie of the Split award and reached the semifinals at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. He made his second World Championship appearance in 2019, and in 2020, he won the LCS championship. After six splits with the team, ahead of the 2021 season, Ritchie was traded to FlyQuest. He was transferred to the Golden Guardians in the middle of the 2021 Summer split.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulcan (gamer)</span> Canadian League of Legends player

Philippe Laflamme, better known as Vulcan, is a Canadian professional League of Legends support for Cloud9, in the League Championship Series (LCS). Previously, Vulcan has played for Clutch Gaming, the team that drafted him, Evil Geniuses, and FlyQuest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disguised (esports)</span> Canadian esports organization

Disguised is an esports organization founded in 2023 by Canadian streamer Jeremy "Disguised Toast" Wang. The organization currently fields active teams in Valorant, League Of Legends, and Apex Legends, with plans to compete in Teamfight Tactics and an unspecified fighting game in 2024.

TSM <i>League of Legends</i> division League of Legends esports team

The League of Legends division of TSM was a gaming team based in Los Angeles, California, that competed in the League Championship Series (LCS), the top-level professional league for video game League of Legends in the United States and Canada, from 2013 to 2023. The organization sold their LCS franchise slot in 2023.

References

  1. ↑ @GoldenGuardians (December 18, 2019). "With our new branding, we will also be changing our tricode. Goodbye GGS, welcome GG. #GGWIN" (Tweet). Retrieved January 4, 2020– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Golden Guardians". www.lolesports.com. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Sources: Warriors-owned League of Legends team to be called Golden Guardians". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Golden Guardians Announce North American League of Legends Championship Series Roster". Golden State Warriors. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Sources: NA LCS team roster finalized with Rockets". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  6. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (December 18, 2019). "Golden Guardians expands to compete in Apex Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and World of Warcraft". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 31, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Golden Guardians add DogDog and Zain to their esports roster". ESPN. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Golden Guardians Continue Expansion Into Super Smash Bros. Melee | Golden Guardians". www.goldenguardians.com. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Michael, Cale (March 30, 2023). "Golden Guardians expands Smash Melee roster, signs aMSa one day after losing Zain". Dot Esports.
  10. ↑ Wolf, Jacob (February 4, 2018). "Sources: Golden Guardians fired Locodoco after inappropriate remark". ESPN. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  11. ↑ "NA LCS 2018 Spring Split | Teams and Standings". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Farewell Mickey". Team Liquid. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  13. ↑ Goslin, Austen. "Golden Guardians announce changes for Summer Split roster". The Rift Herald. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  14. ↑ Li, Xing (April 23, 2018). "Hai retires from competitive League". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ Goslin, Austen (April 24, 2018). "Hai Lam retires after 6 years of professional play". The Rift Herald. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  16. ↑ "NA LCS 2018 Summer Split | Teams and Standings". www.lolesports.com. LoL Esports. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  17. ↑ Wolf, Jacob (November 26, 2018). "Sources: Haunzter, Olleh to join Golden Guardians". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  18. ↑ Abbas, Malcolm (November 26, 2018). "Report: Golden Guardians to sign Hauntzer and Olleh". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  19. ↑ Wolf, Jacob (November 24, 2018). "Sources: Golden Guardians expected to sign Froggen". ESPN. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  20. ↑ Li, Xing (November 24, 2018). "Report: Froggen is back, to sign with Golden Guardians". Dot Esports. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  21. ↑ Abbas, Malcolm (October 18, 2018). "Inero named Golden Guardians' new head coach". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  22. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (March 23, 2019). "Froggen, Golden Guardians qualify for the 2019 LCS Spring Split playoffs with a win over OpTic Gaming". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  23. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (March 31, 2019). "FlyQuest beat Golden Guardians to advance to the 2019 LCS Spring Split semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  24. ↑ Li, Xing (July 6, 2019). "Huhi and FBI to start for Golden Guardians in the bot lane for week 5 of the 2019 LCS Summer Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  25. ↑ Esguerra, Tyler (July 17, 2019). "Golden Guardians trade Deftly to Cloud9 for KEITH". Dot Esports. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  26. ↑ Geracie, Nick (August 4, 2019). "League of Legends: OpTic Gaming triumphs over Golden Guardians in tiebreaker to qualify for LCS Summer Playoffs". Inven Global. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  27. ↑ Garcia, Ethan (July 14, 2023). "Golden Guardians sets new franchise record for LCS victories in a single split". Dot Esports.
  28. ↑ @Licorice (July 22, 2023). "... The team has attributed this success to 'hard work', 'the power of friendship', and 'taco Fridays'" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ Robertson, Scott. "Pound Online - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  30. ↑ Collier, Brandon. "Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 2 - Melee Singles". Smash.gg. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Smash Summit 10 Online". smash.gg. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  32. 1 2 GimmeDatWheat (January 21, 2023). "SSBMRank 2022: The Top Ten". Medium. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.