Counter Logic Gaming

The Los Angeles organisation whose CLG.CS and CLG Red teams competed from 2015 to 2023.

Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) was an American esports organisation headquartered in Los Angeles, founded in April 2010 by HotshotGG and Vodoo as a League of Legends team before branching into other games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Madison Square Garden Sports bought a controlling stake in 2017, and the brand was shut down after NRG Esports acquired it in April 2023.

Quick Facts

Short name

CLG

Location

Los Angeles, California

Parent group

Madison Square Garden Sports

Founded

April 2010

Folded

April 2023

President

George Georgallidis

Partners

Bud Light
MTN Dew Amp Game Fuel
OMEN by HP
Twitch
Squarespace
Spectrum
FLEXFIT
Logitech, Samsung SSD
Govee

Sport

League of Legends
Fortnite
Super Smash Bros.
Apex Legends
Valorant

Facts from the source article.

Background

CLG entered CS:GO in early 2015 by signing the former mouseSpaz roster of tarik, Hazed, reltuC, FNS and ptr as CLG.CS, after owner HotshotGG had said in December 2014 that the organisation was looking hard at CS:GO and Dota 2. The team fell in the groups at ESL One Katowice 2015, won the CEVO Season 6 LAN Finals, and after jdm64 replaced ptr reached the semifinals of ESL ESEA Pro League Season 1 by beating Fnatic and Keyd Stars before losing to Cloud9. It was one of only two North American teams at ESL One Cologne 2015, exiting the groups after close losses to Ninjas in Pyjamas and Natus Vincere, and was knocked out at DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca by Natus Vincere.

On December 15, 2015, the organisation announced it was looking for a new fifth member after FNS decided to step down, and on January 20, 2016, it named FugLy as the new player and pita as head coach; koosta replaced jdm64 that June. After ELEAGUE Season 1 on July 14, 2016, tarik and pita departed the active roster, nahtE and Subroza joined in August, and on November 30, 2017, CLG announced it was parting with its CS:GO team. A second, all-female team, CLG Red, was signed on July 5, 2015, from the former Ubinited roster with missharvey and potter, won the ESWC 2015 women's title six days later, and ran through many roster changes until it was disbanded on April 6, 2023.

The organisation's League of Legends team won two NA LCS splits and was the only asset kept when NRG bought CLG; all other players and staff were laid off.