Luka Perković (born 30 September 1998), better known as Perkz (previously stylized as PERKZ and before that as PerkZ), is a Croatian professional League of Legends player.

Perkz
Perkz with G2 Esports in 2020
Personal information
NameLuka Perković
Nickname(s)Uma Jan[2]
Born (1998-09-30) September 30, 1998 (age 26)[1]
Zagreb, Croatia
NationalityCroatian
Career information
GamesLeague of Legends
Playing career2014–present
RoleMid laner
Team history
2014GSI Gaming
2015Gamers2
2015Millenium
20152020G2 Esports[a]
2021Cloud9
20222023Team Vitality
2024Team Heretics
Career highlights and awards

From 2015 to 2020, Perkz was a member of G2 Esports, when the team became the first European organization to win the Mid-Season Invitational in 2019. He reached the World Championship final in 2019. He has won 8 LEC titles, tied-third only to former teammates Caps (14) and Mikyx (11). In November 2020, Perkz left G2 to join LCS organization Cloud9 for the 2021 season.[3] He is widely regarded as one of the best western players in League of Legends history.[4][5]

Career

edit

2014 season

edit

Perkz's first professional team was GSI Gaming, which he joined midway through the 2013 season. With the team, he competed at DreamHack Summer 2014, though they did not make it past the group stage.[6] Perkz and GSI Gaming won EpicGear Cup 16, and placed second in EpicGear Cup 17 before the team disbanded later on in the year.

2015 season

edit

At the start of 2015, Perkz joined Gamers2. He participated at International Invitational Tournament 4 with the team, and later the EU CS Spring Qualifier r as along with beansu, Obvious, Kobbe and kaSing. Gamers2 were beaten by Team Nevo in the final of their qualifier bracket. Perkz then left the team, joining Millenium soon after.[7][8]

With Millenium, Perkz and the roster finished 2nd at Gamers Assembly 2015 behind only Origen. Not long after, Perkz officially left the team.[7][8]

In May 2015, it was announced that Perkz would be rejoining Gamers2, who had retained their Challenger Series spot for the EUCS Summer Season. In October, Gamers2 rebranded themselves to G2 Esports.[7][8]

2016 season

edit

G2 started strong in their first year as a part of the EU LCS. They finished the split in first place with a record of 15–3. In the playoffs, Perkz and G2 defeated established franchises Fnatic[9] and Origen,[10] 3–1 both times, to win the season and secure an invitation to 2016 Mid–Season Invitational.[11]

Going into MSI, G2 Esports was not expected to win, with Korean representatives, SK Telecom T1 favored ahead of them, but were still expected to perform well.[12] However, the team lost their first four games of the round robin and ultimately finished in fifth place out of six teams,[13][14] and were eliminated from the tournament.[15] This placement meant that Europe would forfeit their Pool 1 seed at the World Championship.[16] In a statement published partway through the second day of play, G2 stated that their players had taken vacation time after a "rigorous Spring Split”.[12] AD carry Emperor later stated that there had been an internal conflict within the team one day prior to the start of the event.[17]

2019 season

edit

In 2019 Caps was traded from Fnatic to G2, resulting in two mid lane players on the same team.[18][19] Perkz swapped to the AD Carry position, replacing his teammate Hjarnan.[20] G2's 2019 season was very successful, with the team winning the Mid-Season Invitational,[21][22] and making it to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship finals, where Perkz and the rest of G2 were defeated by FunPlus Phoenix.[23][24]

2020 season

edit

For the 2020 season, Perkz moved back to the mid lane, swapping positions with Caps.[25] After the spring split had ended, Perkz swapped back to the bot lane.[26]

In the middle of the LEC 2020 Summer Split, Perkz had to take a break because of stress.[27] Perkz came back after a short break, and G2 Esports managed to once again win the LEC, and qualify for Worlds 2020.[28][29]

At the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, G2 Esports were eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual champions, Damwon Gaming.[30] This marked the third strait year G2 has finished fourth or better at Worlds.[31] Following the loss, Perkz and G2 decided to part ways in November 2020.[1]

2021 season

edit

On November 20, 2020 Cloud9 announced Perkz as their new midlaner, replacing Nisqy.[32] On Cloud9, Perkz reached the lock-in finals,[33] and led Cloud9 to a first place finish in the regular season, as well as first place in the 2021 LCS MidSeason Showdown.[34] Perkz was awarded Player of the Series for his performance in the finals against Team Liquid.[35] Perkz is now the second player to have ever won both a LEC and a LCS championship title, along with his teammate Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen.[36]

At the 2021 League of Legends World Championship Perkz and C9 reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Gen.G.[37]

Seasons overview

edit
Team Year Domestic International
League Split Rift Rivals Mid-Season Invitational World Championship
Winter Spring Summer Season Finals
Gamers2 2015 EU CS 3rd
G2 Esports 2016 EU LCS 1st 1st 5th 13th–16th
2017 EU LCS 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 9th–11th
2018 EU LCS 2nd 6th 1st Did not qualify 3rd–4th
2019 LEC 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd
2020 LEC 1st 1st None held[b] 3rd–4th
Cloud9 2021 LCS 1st 3rd 5th 5th–8th
Team Vitality 2022 LEC 5th 7th Did not qualify
2023 LEC 5th 3rd 10th Did not qualify
Team Heretics 2024 LEC 7th

Awards and honors

edit
International
LEC
  • Eight-time LEC champion – Spring 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2020, Summer 2020
  • Four-time LEC 1st All-Pro Team – Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Summer 2019, Spring 2020
  • Three-time LEC 2nd All-Pro Team – Summer 2016, Spring 2018, Summer 2018
  • One-time LEC 3rd All-Pro Team – Summer 2017
  • Rookie of the Split – Spring 2016
LCS
  • One-time LCS champion – Spring 2021
  • One-time LCS 1st All-Pro Team – Spring 2021
Tournaments
  • EpicGear Cup 16 – 2014

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Known as Gamers2 in early 2015
  2. ^ Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[38]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Newell, Adam (17 November 2020). "Perkz officially departs from G2 Esports". Dot Esports. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (6 May 2020). "Perkz, Caps to switch positions once again for 2020 LEC Summer Split". Dot Esports. Welcome back, Uma Jan and Claps.
  3. ^ "LEC superstar Perkz officially joins Cloud9 | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ "World title or not, Caps and Perkz still the best Western duo in League of Legends". ESPN.com. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  5. ^ Miter, Mateusz (12 January 2022). "Vitality's Labrov: 'If we don't win the trophy with this roster, that would be a disappointment'". Dot Esports. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  6. ^ AB, DreamHack. "Dreamhack DreamHack Summer 2014".
  7. ^ a b c "Luka "PerkZ" Perković » LoL Esports Player Profile". Esports.net. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Gundacker, Kai (24 September 2020). "Esport Legends - Perkz". eSports.com. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. ^ "LoL Esports". lolesports.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  10. ^ Volk, Pete (17 April 2016). "G2 vs. Origen results (spoilers!)". The Rift Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  11. ^ Sport1.de,. "League of Legends MSI 2016: G2 Esports im Portrait".
  12. ^ a b "PerkZ on G2's lack of MSI prep: 'We decided...taking that vacation would be maybe better for us'".
  13. ^ "SK Telecom lose four games in a row in crazy MSI group stage". 9 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  14. ^ "MSI Day Two Recap: A panic in the Shanghai Oriental Center". ABC News. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  15. ^ Volk, Pete (5 May 2016). "MSI Day 2 results". The Rift Herald. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  16. ^ "League of Legends - Garena". lol.garena.com. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  17. ^ Jacobs, Jamie (9 May 2016). "G2 Crash and Burn at MSI 2016". Esports Edition. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Sources: Caps to join G2 Esports, shifting PerkZ to AD carry". ESPN.com. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  19. ^ Mickunas, Aaron (29 November 2018). "G2 Esports confirms the acquisition of Caps and Mikyx, as well as Perkz' move to bot lane". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  20. ^ Heath, Jerome (6 January 2019). "The biggest League of Legends roster swaps of the offseason". Dot Esports. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  21. ^ "G2 Esports Win MSI 2019 with Fastest MSI Finals Ever". Hotspawn. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  22. ^ Andrew Amos (19 May 2019). "G2 smash Team Liquid to become the MSI 2019 champions". Dot Esports. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  23. ^ Network, Esportz (12 November 2019). "How did FPX beat G2 to win Worlds 2019?". Medium. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  24. ^ Esguerra, Tyler (8 November 2019). "FunPlus Phoenix's Doinb says that G2 only defeated SKT because of luck". Dot Esports. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  25. ^ "G2's Perkz and Caps swap positions". ESPN.com. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  26. ^ Kristine Tuting (8 May 2020). "G2's Perkz and Caps will once again swap roles for LEC Summer Split". One Sports. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  27. ^ @Perkz (27 June 2020). "I'm so happy we won today with good performance! I've been having a bit hard time dealing with stress so I will b…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ^ "G2 win LEC Summer 2020 finals with 3-0 victory over Fnatic - Esports News UK". 7 September 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  29. ^ Lupasco, Cristian (6 September 2020). "G2 Esports win eighth LEC title after sweeping Fnatic in 2020 Summer Finals". Dot Esports. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  30. ^ Lupasco, Cristian (24 October 2020). "DAMWON Gaming defeat G2 Esports to secure first World Championship finals appearance". Dot Esports. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  31. ^ "LoL: Worlds 2020 | G2 Esports vs Damwon Gaming Semifinal Recap". Esports News Network | ESTNN. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  32. ^ Perkz joins C9
  33. ^ "Team Liquid win a five-game thriller to take the LCS Lock In tournament | ONE Esports". www.oneesports.gg. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  34. ^ McIntyre, Isaac. "Perkz delivers on LCS promise, leads Cloud9 to Spring title: final placements & recap". dexerto.com. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  35. ^ Garcia, Ethan (12 April 2021). "Cloud9 win 2021 LCS Mid-Season Showdown over Team Liquid, secure ticket to Mid-Season Invitational". Dot Esports. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  36. ^ Esguerra, Tyler. "Only 2 mid laners have won the LEC title over the past 8 splits: Caps and Perkz". dotesports.com. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Gen.G eliminate Cloud9, will face EDG in Worlds 2021 semifinals". Upcomer. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  38. ^ Rand, Emily (23 April 2020). "Riot cancels Mid-Season Invitational, announces changes to worlds". ESPN. Archived from the original on 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.

As of this edit, this article uses content from "PerkZ Esportspedia's Page", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.