Perkz on Leaving G2: “It is good that I got cut off.”

The greatest western League of Legends player of all time reminiscences on how getting cut from his parent organization made him an even stronger player.

 Nothing personal, just business.

The newest episode of the LEC-produced EUphoria podcast, not to be confused with Zendaya’s masterpiece, aired yesterday and it featured quite a prominent guest this time around, none other than the God-Emperor himself. In what was a calm, joyous discussion between what felt like three friends, the trio explored Perkz’s return to Europe, his team’s infamous 0-3 start and answering generic questions about the legendary mid laner’s new teammates. One potentially sore topic came up in Perkz deciding to leave G2, the organization he qualified to the LEC with, and the trials and tribulations he faced as a result of being blocked by going to rival teams by the owner and his friend, Carlos.

"I was getting kind of like… put in a tough position.– Perkz"

It was nothing more than a huge talking point in all of the 2020 offseason, the audacity of Carlos to turn the knife onto his franchise player, a personal friend of his, and to make sure the decision to let him leave does not come back to hurt G2’s chances in the upcoming year. In many ways I am sympathetic to Carlos; after all, it is his job to try and win the split, churn out content and attract more investors by embellishing his already-impressive portfolio. Letting Perkz go is already a huge loss to the organization, but being at the mercy of his wrath in the upcoming 2021 season is just completely out of the question. As clumsy and treacherous as the decision might seem, I do not necessarily fault the G2 owner for making arguably one of the more correct business decisions available to him at the time.

God-Emperor Perkz

Another reason I do not fault Carlos for his decision is that he has every right to be scared of what Perkz can do once he is surrounded by competent teammates. I frequently use the nickname “God-Emperor” to describe him, because the 23 year old Croatian exudes a sort of infectious, magnetizing aura that garners the following of every teammate he has ever played with. This borderline overpowered talent, combined with his even more overpowered clutch factor, creates a player who is capable of pulling off the craziest upsets in League of Legends history, time and time again. His charisma is the reason why he is adorned with so many glittering trophies and medals, despite coming from a region where League of Legends isn’t nearly as popular as its eastern counterparts.

Owing to his constant adaptability, Perkz quickly made lemonade out the proverbial lemons he was given, winning the 2021 LCS Spring Split and pulling off quite possibly the greatest Group Stage upset during that year’s Worlds. He acknowledges that being forced to change scenery so drastically allowed him to develop even further:

"That made me be much better at adapting to different things, different situations, and not having control over things – which I was used to, right, from G2 days"

Even though Carlos wanted to keep Perkz away in order to protect his G2 from any stiff competition, ironically, it might have turned out for the worse. While G2 was busy failing to qualify for Worlds with yet another star-studded roster, Perkz was sharpening his skillset once again, learning how to becoming a different sort of player, and leader, when he is not clearly the franchise player. And now he has returned once again to his kingdom… and I cannot wait to see what kind of royal retribution His Highness will exact upon G2 and the LEC.