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Licorice (gamer)

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Licorice
Ritchie in 2019
Current team
TeamLyon
RoleTop laner
GameLeague of Legends
LeagueLTA North
Personal information
NameEric Ritchie
Born1997 or 1998 (age 26–27)[1]
NationalityCanadian
Team history
2016Cloud9 Challenger
2016–2017Team eUnited
2018–2020Cloud9
2020FlyQuest
2021–2023Golden Guardians
2024Dignitas
2025–presentLyon
Career highlights and awards
  • LCS champion (2020 Spring)
  • LCS Rookie of the Split (2018 Spring)
  • 4× LCS First-Team All Pro
  • 2× LCS Second-Team All Pro
  • 1× LCS Most Improved Player

Eric Ritchie, better known as Licorice, is a Canadian professional League of Legends player currently playing for Lyon in the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) North Conference. Prior to competing in the League Championship Series (LCS), the predecessor to the LTA, Ritchie played for LCS Challenger teams, such as Cloud9 Challenger and Team eUnited. Ritchie signed with Cloud9 ahead of the 2018 NA LCS season; in his rookie season, he was won the league's Rookie of the Split award and reached the semifinals at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship. He made his second World Championship appearance in 2019, and in 2020, he won the LCS championship. After six splits with the team, ahead of the 2021 season, Ritchie was traded to FlyQuest. He was transferred to the Golden Guardians in the middle of the 2021 Summer split, before moving to Dignitas (in the Summer 2024 split) after Golden Guardians dissolved at the end of 2023. Upon the LCS becoming the LTA North, Ritchie moved to Lyon, the only Latin America-based team in the conference.

Professional career

[edit]

Pre–LCS

[edit]

Early in his career, in 2016, Ritchie played for Cloud9 Challenger in the League of Legends Challenger Series, as a substitute.[2] In December 2016, Challengers Series team eUnited bought out Ritchie's contract from Cloud9.[3]

Cloud9

[edit]

In late 2017, Ritchie signed with Cloud9, as their starting top laner on the main roster for the 2018 NA LCS season.[2][3] He entered his rookie season as the replacement for Cloud9's former top laner Jeong "Impact" Eon-yeong and made his LCS debut in January 2018.[4] At the end of the Spring Split, Ritchie won the league's Rookie of the Split award.[5] In the Summer Split, Ritchie and Cloud9 reached the semifinals, where they faced Team Liquid; however, they lost the match, 0–3.[6][7] Cloud9 qualified for the 2018 World Championship as North America's third seed,[8] where Ritchie helped the team reach their best international finish in the organization's history, reaching the semifinals.[9] At the end of the year, Ritchie was invited to the 2018 All-Star Event as one of three North American representatives.[10]

The following season, Ritchie was named to the 2019 LCS Spring Split All-Pro first team.[11] Ritchie missed two weeks of the 2019 Summer Split due to a wrist injury,[12][13] however despite the missed games, he was named to the LCS All-Pro second team at the end of the split.[14] Cloud9 reached the 2019 LCS Summer Split finals, marking the second LCS finals appearance for Ritchie; the team lost to Team Liquid in the finals by a score of 2–3.[15] Cloud9 qualified for the 2019 World Championship, marking the second time Ritchie had attended the World Championship.[16]

In the 2020 Spring Split, Ritchie and Cloud9 finished the regular season with a 17–1 record, tying an LCS record.[17] The team went on to sweep FlyQuest, 3–0, in the LCS finals, giving Ritchie his first LCS title.[18] Ritchie, alongside the entire Cloud9 roster, was named to the All–Pro first team,[19] although Ritchie was the only member of Cloud9 to not be in the top-10 voting for the Spring Split Most Valuable Player award.[20] The following split, Ritchie was named to the LCS All-Pro first team and was a nominee for the splits MVP award.[21][22] However Cloud9 fell early in the playoffs, and for the first time in his LCS career, Ritchie did not qualify for Worlds.[23]

After the 2020 season, Cloud9 announced that they would be retaining their entire roster for the 2021 LCS season;[24] however, after LEC Star Luka "Perkz" Perković became available for trade,[25] he was subsequently acquired by Cloud9 in October 2020,[26] and Academy player Fudge was promoted to the starting lineup, replacing Ritchie in the toplane.[27]

FlyQuest

[edit]

In November 2020, FlyQuest bought out Ritchie's contract from Cloud9 for a reported US$1.5 million.[28] Through the 2021 Spring Split and half of the 2021 Summer Split, FlyQuest amassed only a 9–24 record, with Ritchie posting the worst kill-death ratio among all LCS players up until July in the Summer Split.[29]

Golden Guardians

[edit]

In July 2021, FlyQuest sold Ritchie's contract to Golden Guardians, who had a 8–25 record at that point in the season. At the time of signing, Golden Guardians also agreed to extend his contract through the 2023 season.[29] Golden Guardians had an improved win rate after the acquisition of Ritchie, finishing the season with a 14–31 record.[30]

Dignitas

[edit]

After the 2023 season, Golden Guardians left League of Legends, and esports as a whole, releasing Ritchie in the process.[31] Ritchie would not be signed by a team for the 2024 first split, but signed with Dignitas on May 7, in time for the Summer split.[32] Dignitas would finish 5th in that split, failing to qualify for the 2024 World Championship in the final LCS split.

Lyon

[edit]

On December 23, 2024, Ritchie was announced as the top laner for Lyon, a team formed as a merger between former LLA teams Rainbow7 and Six Karma, in the newly-formed LTA North Conference (which replaced the LCS).[citation needed]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (January 8, 2020). "The best Western League of Legends player stories to watch out for in 2020". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Abbas, Malcolm (November 16, 2017). "Cloud9 could be getting a new top laner in Licorice". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Wolf, Jacob (November 16, 2017). "Sources: Cloud9 set to acquire contract rights for top laner Licorice". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  4. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (January 25, 2018). "Cloud9 rookie Licorice will need to prove himself against Huni to bring down Echo Fox". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  5. ^ Rutledge, Caroline (October 20, 2020). "League of Legends: Cloud9 to Release Licorice, Promote Fudge to Starting Lineup". The Gamer. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  6. ^ Waltzer, Noah (September 9, 2018). "Team Liquid beats Cloud9 for second straight NA LCS title". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  7. ^ Stewart, Jack (June 8, 2021). "Cloud9's route to Worlds starts here with the LCS Summer Championship". Red Bull. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  8. ^ Newell, Adam (2018-09-22). "All the Teams Qualified for 2018 Worlds: League of Legends". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  9. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (2018-10-28). "The NA dream is dead as Cloud9 get knocked out by Fnatic in the Worlds semifinals". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  10. ^ Golsin, Austen (November 29, 2018). "The players for the 2018 All-Star event have been announced". The Rift Herald. Polygon. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (March 30, 2019). "Here is the 2019 LCS Spring Split All-Pro team". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Samples, Rachel (July 6, 2019). "Kumo to sub in for Cloud9's Licorice for week 5 of the 2019 LCS Summer Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  13. ^ Abbas, Malcolm (August 16, 2019). "FakeGod wins LCS rookie of the split, Cain finds first coach of the split award". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  14. ^ Byers, Preston (August 9, 2019). "4 Team Liquid players named to summer LCS All-Pro 1st Team". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  15. ^ "Liquid rally past Cloud9 for fourth straight LCS title". ESPN. August 25, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  16. ^ Rand, Emily (October 22, 2019). "The woes of North American League of Legends". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  17. ^ Geracie, Nick; Ousley, Parkes (March 30, 2020). "The 2020 LCS Spring Playoffs bracket has been set". Inven Global. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  18. ^ Rand, Emily (April 19, 2020). "Cloud9 defeat FlyQuest in dominant LCS spring split finals". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  19. ^ Binkowski, Justin (April 3, 2020). "Cloud9's entire starting lineup named to 2020 LCS Spring Split All-Pro first team". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  20. ^ "LCS finals roundtable -- can Cloud9 be topped?". ESPN. April 16, 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  21. ^ Sturak, Brandon (August 14, 2020). "LoL: LCS Announces All-Pro Teams For 2020 Summer Split". ESTNN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  22. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (August 18, 2020). "Team Liquid wins 2020 LCS Summer Coaching Staff of the Split award". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  23. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (2020-08-30). "TSM secure first Worlds berth since 2017 with 3-1 series win over Cloud9". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  24. ^ Ousley, Parkes (September 4, 2020). "Cloud9 LCS roster sticking together going into 2021". Inven Global. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  25. ^ Kelly, Michael (2020-11-10). "The best fits for Perkz if he leaves G2 this offseason". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  26. ^ Geddes, George (2020-11-20). "Cloud9 officially acquires Perkz from G2". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  27. ^ Wolf, Jacob (October 19, 2020). "Cloud9 to promote Fudge to starting lineup, Reignover to head coach". ESPN. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  28. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (November 16, 2020). "Licorice reportedly set to be FlyQuest's new starting top laner for 2021". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  29. ^ a b Kelley, Michael (July 6, 2021). "Golden Guardians acquires Licorice from FlyQuest, extends contract through 2023". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  30. ^ Seeger, Brieuc (November 15, 2021). "Sources: Golden Guardians plan to field Licorice, Ablazeolive and Olleh in 2022". Upcomer. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  31. ^ Xu, Davide (November 21, 2023). "Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians leave LCS, franchise league to operate with eight teams". Esports Insider. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  32. ^ Banerjee, Rijit (May 8, 2024). "Licorice crowns himself 'best top laner' in the LCS after joining Dignitas". Dot Esports. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
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