EG botlaner Danny will miss this week’s LCS finals to focus on his mental health after poor performances against Liquid and Cloud9, Kaori from EG academy will stand in. Announcement from EG’s CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson:
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Danny has not been on good form since MSI 2022
The 18-year-old Kyle ‘Danny’ Sakamaki has been under a lot of pressure since his underperformance at Mid-Season Invitational 2022 where EG placed 3-4th after getting sweeped by eventual champions RNG.
Now that may sound weird, finishing 3-4th after losing to the champions seems like decent results, phenomenal considering the utter dominance of Korean and Chinese League scenes. But as one of the actual American players on a LCS team, a region where (European) imports overwhelmingly outnumber native players, and as the young botlaner of a rising squad, unreasonable expectations were put on the teenager, and in turns affected his gameplay and health.
Danny’s constant mispositions and unimpressive laning have undeniably cost EG a 1-3 upset against Cloud9 and almost ruined their chance at Worlds qualification in a close 3-2 victory over Team Liquid in the Lower Bracket, but the overblown blaming he takes from casters, fans and himself has got to the young man.
Danny’s future at Worlds 2022 is uncertain
The break at the moment is indefinite, and it is unsure that Danny will return in time for Worlds 2022 in just a month. In the meantime, EG will play with their Academy roster’s ADC Kaori. It would be a huge shame should Danny be unable to play at Worlds after helping his team qualify to the year’s most prestigious event.
Regardless of how we might think of Kyle as a player, it’s reasonable to wish him a speedy recovery and hope for better treatment of him by everyone. This is all too much for an 18-year-old to shoulder. After defeating Liquid and qualifying to Worlds, the whole team except him was celebrating. Danny sat there with a blank face, then started crying. More than anyone else he knew he had not been playing well.
A break is necessary, and hopefully Danny will be able to tap into his potential once he had recovered. And if he can’t, then it’s completely fine, he has made a major achievement qualifying for Worlds at 18 and doesn’t need to prove himself any further.
