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Golden Guardians

Golden Guardians
Short nameGG (formerly GGS)[1]
DivisionsApex Legends
League of Legends
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Teamfight Tactics
World of Warcraft
FoundedNovember 20, 2017 (2017-11-20)
Folded2023
LeagueLCS
Based inOakland, California
LocationUnited States
Parent groupGolden State Warriors
Websitewww.goldenguardians.com Edit this at Wikidata

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]

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]

Tournament results

Placement Event Final result (W–L)
10th 2018 NA LCS Spring Split 4–14
10th 2018 NA LCS Summer Split 5–13
5th 2019 LCS Spring Split 9–9
5th–6th 2019 LCS Spring Playoffs 2–3 (against FlyQuest)
7th 2019 LCS Summer Split 8–10
6th 2020 LCS Spring Split 8–10
5th–6th 2020 LCS Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against FlyQuest)
5th 2020 LCS Summer Split 9–9
5th–6th 2020 LCS Summer Playoffs 2–3 (against Team SoloMid)
5th–8th 2021 LCS Lock-In 0–2 (against Evil Geniuses)
10th 2021 LCS Spring Split 3–15
8th 2021 LCS Summer Split 14–31
7th–8th 2021 LCS Championship 0–3 (against Cloud9)
5th–8th 2022 LCS Lock-In 0–2 (against Evil Geniuses)
6th 2022 LCS Spring Split 9–9
5th–6th 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs 0–3 (against Cloud9)
8th 2022 LCS Summer Split 5–13
7th–8th 2022 LCS Championship 2–3 (against Counter Logic Gaming)
6th 2023 LCS Spring Split 9–9

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]

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. ^ a b "Golden Guardians add DogDog and Zain to their esports roster". ESPN. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Golden Guardians Continue Expansion Into Super Smash Bros. Melee | Golden Guardians". www.goldenguardians.com. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  9. ^ a b 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 21, 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. ^ a b GimmeDatWheat (January 21, 2023). "SSBMRank 2022: The Top Ten". Medium. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
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