Cover-Credits:
Just days before the League of Legends’ Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 kicks off, caster Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines has announced that he will not be casting the tournament this year. He has been an active part of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) broadcast team since 2017 and over the course of time, he has garnered a huge fan base. CaptainFlowers is often called the rap god of League of Legends casters thanks to the abundant energy and hype he brings to a game with just his voice.
Riot Games announced on 30th March that the MSI 2022 will take place in Busan, South Korea. Notably, this is the first international event of this year and the first time South Korea is hosting an MSI tournament. The tournament is scheduled to run between 10th - 29th May at the Busan Esports Arena and the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO).
Why is CaptainFlowers not casting MSI?
CaptainFlowers explained why he would not be casting this year’s MSI on Twitter. He wrote, “The English casting team for MSI will be at the LEC studio in Berlin. The event itself will be in Korea. For me, that means all the difficulties of long travel and all the troubles of remote shows all at once. So, after a lot of consideration, I've declined to cast MSI this year.”
It looks like Riot Games has only arranged for the players and the staff members of the eleven participating teams to fly to Korea since CaptainFlowers stated that the English casting team would work from the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) studio in Berlin.
He further stated that he would not be completely detached from the tournament as he would be co-hosting a “3-episode mini-series on all things MSI” with Luka "Perkz" Perković and Ovilee May from Los Angeles.
Fellow LCS caster Isaac "Azael" Cummings Bentley replied to CaptainFlowers, “Will always respect you making choices to take care of your mental health, even if it means no casting with my buddy at MSI. You'll be missed!”
Esports personality and former League of Legends color caster Christopher "PapaSmithy" Smith said he respected CaptainFlowers’ decision. “We've both done the remote grind before and it never feels good, without even mentioning setting your jetlagged biological clock to weird hour ranges. You have the ability and heart of a master performer - No worries sitting out this one show!”
Notably, CaptainFlowers will not be the only one missing from 2022 MSI. Freelance esports host Eefje "Sjokz" Depoortere, who has been an integral part of League of Legends esports and the European league, also stated that she would not be a part of MSI since she will be hosting Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) PGL Major Antwerp 2022.
On 25th April, she wrote, “By working the Major, I won’t be attending MSI. This was a very hard decision to make, and I‘m thankful Riot understands. To be part of a Major in my home country is an honor I didn‘t ever think I would get. I will work my ass off. Thank you @pglesports.”
This is not the first time CaptainFlowers is stepping down from an international event. In 2021, he announced via Twitter that he would not be attending Worlds 2021 explaining that his physical and mental healthwere both a long way from where he'd like them to be.
