Darshan Upadhyaya
Darshan Upadhyaya, better known mononymously as Darshan, (formerly ZionSpartan), is a Canadian-born American professional League of Legends player. He is most known for his four and a half year long tenure as Counter Logic Gaming's top laner from November 2014–May 2019, a time during which CLG and ZionSpartan made both the 2015 World Championship and the 2016 World Championship.[1][2] ZionSpartan and CLG also won the 2015 NALCS Summer Split as well as the 2016 NALCS Spring Split.[3] From the start of his career to November 2015, Upadhyaya played under the screenname ZionSpartan; from November 2015–2019, he played under the screenname Darshan; in 2020 he resumed playing as ZionSpartan; and in 2021 he has returned to Darshan.[4][5]
Darshan | |
---|---|
Personal information | |
Name | Darshan Upadhyaya |
Born | November 12, 1994 |
Nationality | Canadian–American |
Career information | |
Game | League of Legends |
Playing career | 2012–present |
Role | Top laner |
Team history | |
2012 | Monomaniac eSports |
2012–2013 | Team Dynamic |
2013 | Good Game University |
2013–2014 | Team Coast |
2014 | Team Dignitas |
2015–2019 | Counter Logic Gaming |
2019–2020 | GGS Academy |
2021–2022 | Cloud9 Academy |
2023 | 100 Thieves Challengers |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Darshan was elected the inaugural president of the LCS Players Association in 2018, a loose union-like advocacy organization that represents the interests of contracted players in the LCS, and continues to hold that position as of 2022.[6]
Early life
Upadhyaya was born on November 12, 1994 and is of Indian origin.[7][8][9] He resided in Poway, California before joining professional esports.[9]
While growing up, Upadhyaya was often called by his peers his in-game name, ZionSpartan. This was branded by the NALCS in a video titled "Even his teacher called him ZionSpartan."[10]
Tournament results
Counter Logic Gaming
- 1st – 2015 Summer NA LCS
- 12–13th – 2015 League of Legends World Championship
- 2nd – IEM X San Jose
- 1st – 2016 Spring NA LCS
- 2nd – 2016 Mid-Season Invitational
- 4th – 2016 NA LCS Summer regular season
- 4th – 2016 NA LCS Summer playoffs
References
- Steven Asarch. "'League of Legends' CLG Manages To Beat Crowd Favorite TSM In NA LCS Finals". iDigitalTimes.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- "TSM and CLG are in the NA LCS finals (again)". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- "G2 Esports, Counter Logic Gaming are the EU and NA LCS champions". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
- "Darshan changes name back to ZionSpartan, embraces his past". 11 January 2020.
- Meet The Best League of Legends Academy Team In North America
- "NA LCS Players Association Announces Results of Inaugural Executive Officer Election – ARCHIVE - the Esports Observer". 14 June 2018.
- Mayur Vashishth. Indian origin personalities in Esports. 22 April 2016. esportsportal.com.
- Golden Guardians [@GoldenGuardians] (November 12, 2020). "On his birthday, everybody calls him ZionSpartan" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
- Fenn, Mike (June 18, 2013). "This 18-year-old is skipping college to become a League of Legends pro". Daily Dot. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
- "Even His Teacher Calls Him ZionSpartan". Youtube. Retrieved 14 March 2018.