In their first game back after a pretty disappointing performance against the European squads during Rift Rivals 2019, Cloud9 has a whole lot of pressure heading into their matchup on Saturday against the best team in the LCS, Team Liquid.
Making matters worse, their star top-laner Licorice would have to watch from the sidelines after being unable to perform up to standards due to a nagging wrist injury. In his post, Eric “Licorice” Ritchie, took to twitlonger to explain some of his trials with this injury to his legion of fans.
“This has been a rough season for me and I just haven't had the chance to talk about it until now. Pretty much ever since becoming a pro I've had minor intermittent issues mainly with my wrists/hands but they never really affected me at all. It was like having a minor twinge a couple times a week or occasional wrist pain that would last for like 10 seconds and then go away.” wrote Licorice. '
It’s no headline that a professional Esports athlete would or could have a wrist or hand injury. The strain of gaming at an elite level is generally something that the human body is simply not very equipped for. Just early this year, G2 Esports saw some hardship as their star Support Mikyx had to take a pretty large break from scrims and practice in order to nurse a very similar injury.
“About 4 weeks ago the pain started getting worse and more consistent and my practice started to suffer. I just wasn't playing as much solo q since I was scared of the pain/making it worse but my performance on stage was still passable, at least until Rift Rivals came around. Initially I didn't want to play in the tournament since it doesn't affect our regular season/playoffs standing but by the time I brought it up to my team our roster was already sent in and we couldn't change it before the event... “ added Licorice.
“During this time I found a specialist and I've been working with her and have a recovery plan in order to get back to normal. This plan involved a week of full rest and after talking to my team we decided that for this week of LCS I will be stepping down and Kumo will be taking my place on the main roster.” wrote Licorice before asking his fans to cheer on his substitute top-laner. Kumo comes into the C9 top-lane with a huge mountain of hype behind him. Too good for the Academy team, and not quite better than Licorice, Kumo is a young star in the competitive League of Legends scene.
“After this week I will be practicing with the team again and will be working hard to show that I deserve the starting spot on the roster, and that I can be a top ;) player in the LCS again.” wraps up Licorice before thanking his teammates, coaching staff, and fans for their support.
The response on this has already been kind of overwhelming for me but thanks so much everyone for all the support it means a ton to me ????
— C9 Licorice (@Licorice) July 6, 2019
Also for those of you that suggested Mikyx's book I already ordered it lol so hopefully it's just as helpful for me as it was for him ?
Licorice, a 21-year-old top-lane superstar has plenty of career ahead of him, assuming he can heal this injury in a proper way. Working with specialists, and taking some time to recover is a huge first step to ensuring the future of his career.
2019 marks the second full season that Licorice has been on the starting Cloud9 LCS roster, and we know that his squad, his fans, and all those who love League of Legends hope he’s back on the mainstage as soon as possible.
