LCS Summer Split 2020, the split when I first became a Golden Guardians fan.

Hauntzer/Closer/Damonte/FBI/huhi 3-0'd Bjergsen and Doublelift's TSM in the upper bracket of playoffs (yes, they got their revenge on us in the lower bracket but that's besides the point)

I thought this was the breakthrough for this organization in the LCS, a league dominated by just 3 teams at the time (Cloud9, Team Liquid, and TSM).

Enter the pandemic situation, and we were forced to let go of the players we groomed up to be star players in the league.

Adding salt to the wound, those core players went on to win an LCS title the very next year.

While that was happening, we were forced to field Niles/Iconic/Ablazeolive/Stixxay/Newbie.

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2 collegiate players, a decent to good mid laner from the academy scene, an ADC whose career was polarizing (to say the least), and a support from a definitely weaker region.

That's the formula for a decent rebuild....who am I kidding, this was the dark age for the Golden Guardians!

Then 2022 came around and we definitely managed to build a better squad, adding Licorice, Pridestalker, Lost and Olleh.

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We did fine, but we still missed a piece or 2 that would push us over the hump. Enter the 2023 Golden Guardians:

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First ever appearance at a split finals during Spring, first ever appearance at an international event with our stint at MSI 2023, stumbled during Summer playoffs even after ending the regular season as the 2nd seed, which lead to getting 0-3'd by Team BDS in the Worlds Qualifying Series.

Now, the 2023 offseason begins and the following happened/is happening:

• River got sold off to 100 Thieves
• Gori is rumored to be leaving
• Huhi is set to join NRG
• Licorice is being targeted by Immortals

I'm just worried Stixxay might be targeted by a team needing an ADC (DIG lol).

Our team is crumbling as fast as we built it. It's understandable because this is still a business and this is the negative side of being an NBA team-affiliated org.

I've stuck with this org during the 2021 era, and I will still stick around even with the uncertainties awaiting this organization.

Hopefully, we can emulate how NRG built their success by building around players who stuck around in academy/NACL and form a team culture that is dedicated on winning.

We've seen GG manage to break the 9-win curse just this year so we are definitely capable of bouncing back in 2024.