The downfall of 5 legendary esports legends

Sometimes, esports can be very cruel. One moment you’re on top of the world, and the next you’re out of a job.

And it doesn’t matter how great you are. Even the best players in the history of esports have had this experience. Some managed to rise again, while others disappeared forever. Today we take a look at the downfall of some of the greatest esports players.

5. Kjaerbye

Starting off our list is the youngest player to ever win a trophy at a CS:GO major: Kjaerbye . There are players who are praised to the skies even before their first official game, but only a few manage to take home the big win. Kaerbye was able to prove that he was one of the most promising young players in the world when he won the Atlantas Major with Astralis and was even voted MVP of the tournament. A little later in the year, Kjaerbye made the shocking decision to join North, and no one, not even Kjaerbye Astralis teammates, understood why. In the end, however, the split from Astralis turned out to be the biggest mistake in his career.

4. KaKAO

In the early days of League of Legends, few junglers were more hyped than KaKAO. He was an absolute beast at KT Rolster. At the time, many people thought KaKAO was the best jungler in the entire world. He and his team won the Championship in the summer of 2014, but failed to qualify for the World Championship in the same season. After Samsung White dominated the 2014 World Championship, China started importing top Korean players and KaKAO joined Invictus Gaming, but he never reached the same heights as he did in his home country. Like many top Korean talents, he had a solid income in China but then didn’t achieve much on the server. As fate would have it, Invictus Gaming didn’t become a top team until he was gone.

 

3. Sentinels

In the next place is not just one player, but an entire team: the Sentinels. In 2020 and early 2021, they actually dominated in Valorant and even won their first major international trophy. But unfortunately, the next year didn’t really turn out the way the Sentinels envisioned. They didn’t adapt to the meta and unfortunately, there weren’t any positive changes they were hoping for with the roster changes. The Sentinels failed in the first round of Challengers and barely made it to the Last Chance Qualifier, where they were kicked out by 100 Thieves. The team didn’t participate in a single international event in 2022, and when the organization decided to reshape the roster at the end of the year, Shazam learned via Twitter that he would no longer be playing for the Sentinels. To add to all the bad things, the former Sentinels player sinatraa was also accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend at that time and for that, he was suspended from the game for 6 months. An unfortunate ending.

 

2. dennis

The most important round in CS:GO is definitely the pistol round. It helps ensure that our team has enough money for the rest of the half. One player is known to be particularly good in the pistol round: it’s the Pistol King – dennis! Through his talent, he won six in a row with Fnatic in 2016. Dennis and his team were in such good shape that they won the MLG Columbus Major! But in the quarterfinals, they failed to beat Astralis, which unfortunately turned out to be dennis’ last chance to win a Major trophy. Since then he has bounced around between EU rosters and played alongside some of the greatest players to ever grace the game although he himself hasn’t always shone.

1. Guardian

Guardian is one of the greatest AWPers in CS:GO history. He has taken countless titles throughout his career, but one thing has always been missing from his trophy cabinet. Although he has been to the finals of a major three times, he has never managed to win one. Every time NaVi appeared to be ready to take the trophy, they lost in the deciding match. Even when Guardian joined the FaZe Clan superteam, he never made it.

While he was in the finals with FaZe, they squandered a 15-11 lead and made sure North America got its first big major and only trophy. After that, things were never the same for Guardian. His performance got worse and even after he returned to NaVi, things just wouldn’t work out. He bounced from one Tier-2 roster to the next, but has since been left without a team. Although Guardian has never won a Major title, many still consider him one of CS:GO’s GOATs.