Many people in the League of Legends community were shocked today to find out that Griffin parted ways with its longtime head coach, Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho. But the 29-year-old gave some insight (translated by reporter Ashley Kang) as to why he left the team during a stream after his departure.
After Griffin finished in second place during the 2019 LCK Summer Split, there was allegedly a conflict between cvMax and manager Cho Gyu-nam around two weeks prior to the 2019 Summer Finals. When Griffin failed to win the finals against SK Telecom T1, cvMax was allegedly informed that he was going to be fired due to the team’s lack of success and his inabilities as a coach.
CvMax protested this move by the management and the decision was retracted at the time. But “the trust was already broken” between both parties, the conflict eventually continued, and he ultimately left the team. He did try to reassure fans that they had nothing to worry about and that this roster is strong enough to still win Worlds without him.
The past two years have been a roller coaster ride for Griffin. They’ve been absolutely dominant since they entered the LCK in the summer of 2018. Griffin have been able to reach the playoffs in every season they’ve been in the league, but have faltered in the finals each time—first to KT Rolster during the 2018 Summer Split, then to SKT twice this year.
Even though Griffin haven’t been able to win the LCK yet, they’ve been one of the strongest rosters in the world. With cvMax’s departure, this only poses more questions into how consistent Griffin will be at their first World Championship next month.
