In the grand scheme of things, esports is still pretty young.
Despite that, we’ve seen a lot of players come and go.
Some ride off with honor into the sunset.
Some make tearful farewells to the bittersweet cheers of their fans.
and some exit quietly, looking to get away from esports’ harsh spotlight.
But some players do the opposite.
Some players go out in a blaze so bright that everybody in the industry can't help but notice.
One of the most notable esports exit infernos was started by former Counter Logic Gaming midlaner
Austin “Link” Shin.
And the fuel for that fire? His now famous Donezo Manifesto.
Link's manifesto is a relic from a time before the franchised NA LCS.
For most of his career, Link, played for CLG.
He was even with the team before the LCS formed.
He had helped define CLG's identity over his three years with the team, but there were some struggles.
Though CLG were one of the stronger teams in NA.
They were never quite able to beat their demons:
Team SoloMid and Cloud9.
CLG also had to fight their way out of relegation twice. Making them one of the most inconsistent teams
in NA, despite their top tier status.
(Casting)
And eight months after that relegation run,
Link threw in the towel, left the team, and penned a "farewell letter."
The letter itself opened with a promise that Link wasn't just gonna straight up flame people.
And it started out like any esports career chronicle.
Link had a rampant passion for gaming, a tense relationship with his parents and
in the end he had to make a choice between an education, or an esports career.
But as Link's manifesto began delving into his time on CLG. He did actually start to straight up flame people.
He flamed his teammates for their not practicing and lack of independence in game,
saying that "CLG shotcalling, is like babysitting."
He even flamed the game itself and how it was played.
Saying that, "League of Legends is devolving into a game that I don't even recognize anymore."
But more than anything or anyone, Link flamed Doublelift and his fleeting trust in his teammates.
Link wrote, "Once Doublelift loses respect for anyone, you're f***ing donezo."
The vitriolic 17-page long document skyrocketed to the League of Legends subreddit,
and exploded across social media.
The community dubbed it the "Donezo Manifesto,"
immediately cementing its place in League meme history.
Dyrus teased his own version of the Donezo Manifesto when he retired but eventually decided against it.
Alas we will never see the Dyrus Papyrus.
"So f***ing funny."
And CLG memed on it too.
When their former ADC sub Yoona wrote his own Donezo Manifesto, which the team submitted to the
League subreddit from their own account.
But if you peel back the memes and the drama.
The letter stands as a unique if very biased look at the NA LCS at a time when it was still growing into what it
would become today.
There were probably a lot of factors that lead to Link's frustration.
He ran away from home. He put an education at Berkeley on hold
and he was locked into a contract with CLG that he really didn't want to be in towards the end.
But the lack of infrastructure couldn't have helped things either.
CLG had chosen a coach who was working remotely from South Korea,
and the huge support staffs that modern franchised LCS teams have today were a pipe dream back then.
Link's letter was supposed to be this big mic drop moment.
He wanted to expose the problem with his former team and teammates. And he wanted to shine a light
on a side of League of Legends that the community had never seen before.
However his bias throughout the letter was called out immediately.
"Now the problem with this farewell letter, it was riddled with inconsistencies.
He'd say something and a paragraph and a half later you'd fine him say another sentence, which didn't
fit in with what he'd just said before."
"It was like a soap opera plot how extreme the opinions were in this and the characterization of these people."
"Yeah I have no concern with Link telling the truth."
"But when you tell the truth from 100% your perspective, you're not taking into account how other people feel
about it."
"And that drastically changes the equation."
"And he knows that what he did, is gonna make people hate CLG."
"So when I see him be like, "Oh yeah this is a farewell letter." No it's a f**k you letter."
All that considered, one would have expected Doublelift to respond with an equal amount of venom.
After all he's made a name for himself talking trash.
"Everyone else is trash."
And mostly backing it up on the Rift.
(Casting)
Instead, Doublelift addressed almost every point in the 17-page document.
He rebutted a few of them, but with others, he flat out admitted he was wrong and apologized.
CLG finished second during the 2015 summer regular season
just after Link left.
(Casting)
And then in the playoffs they went undefeated against Team Impulse in the semis and TSM in the finals.
(Casting)
"I mean I'm speechless, it's been years of blood sweat and tears for all of us."
"Sorry my throat's shot."
"But it's truly magical to be here, thank you."
In other words, Link left before the team took off.
Link helped define the competitive landscape of the NA LCS during its formative years.
But his letter is how most people remember him.
Hindsight is 20/20, and Link says that he regrets how his time with CLG ended.
But it's hard not to wonder, how Link's career would have turned out in the current NA LCS environment.
"1, 2, 3, CLG!"
An environment that has a lot more structure and support for its players.
Nowadays, Link still streams. Sometimes playing League of Legends,
somtimes playing Fortnite.
But he's back on track to what he was doing before his esports career.
Studying at Berkeley.
Link has largely moved on from esports. But his Donezo Manifesto will stand as a historical document
from an NA LCS that is hopefully long since passed.