Contractz finally achieved his dream with a dominant performance in the grand final.
The 2023 LCS season ended in a roar of NRG chants Juan Arturo "Contractz" Garcia and his squad lifted their first championship. The organization has only been back in the league a single split following the departure of CLG during the mid-season break. For Contractz, his six-year journey back to the top of the LCS mountain is complete. The NA jungler feels this is just the beginning for him and spoke about it during the post-series press conference.
This is only the beginning of the beak, I feel. I still have a lot more to grow as a player and as a person.
The journey back to the top of the mountain was a long and emotional one for Contractz. There were times when he wasn't guaranteed a spot in the LCS, with almost two years' worth of time spent in NA's Academy League. Counter Logic Gaming then gave the former rookie sensation a shot at redemption, and he never looked back.
Contractz rose to prominence in 2017 when Cloud9 promoted him from their Challengers roster ahead of the season. The NA jungler immediately rose through the ranks to become one of the best in the league, barely missing out on the LCS title in his very first split. Six years later, Contractz achieved what he should have done in 2017, taking down the very organization that gave him his big break. When asked after all the ups and downs, if this is the climax of his story, Contractz responded:
"This is only the beginning of the beak, I feel. I think I still have a lot more to grow as a player and as a person. So yeah I feel it's just the start and ready to kick some a** at Worlds honestly."
Contractz wants a rematch with Peanut at Worlds 2023
Not only did Contractz win his first LCS title, but he also earlier in the playoffs secured a spot at worlds, for the first time since his debut season. Contractz was incredible for Cloud9 at that World Championship, and it was criminal we never got to see him compete on the international stage since. Contractz impressed at Worlds 2017, taking on some of the biggest organizations, including the 2017 LPL champions EDG and the defending World Champions SKT T1.
When asked who he would like to face off against at Worlds, Contractz spoke about the player who also won his domestic league over the weekend, veteran jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho.
I really want to play versus Gen.G because of Peanut. I played versus him six years ago as well when I was on Cloud9 and he was on SKT. So to be able to get the rematch and just to see how we face up against each other would be fun.
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