After stepping down and taking a hiatus from pro League of Legends play last summer, European jungler Kold said he’ll be officially retiring from competitive play to focus more on his budding coaching career.
The 25-year-old veteran last played competitive League with Origen during the 2019 LEC Summer Split, where he struggled with health issues that forced him to sit out of the Regional Gauntlet that year. He was eventually released from the team and he decided to take an indefinite break to focus on his health.
“During the summer, I started dealing with severe physical symptoms from stress, and it got to the point where stepping down was the only solution to retain my health,” Kold said on social media. “When life hits you in the face it definitely changes the way you view certain aspects of life, and I would be lying if the last year has been easy, but it has definitely taught me some very important lessons.”
In that time, he came to the conclusion that he was set to switch career paths and focus on coaching opportunities in either the LEC or LCS. He is, however, open to any collaborations with any teams. The veteran jungler said he’s “very confident that [he] can be a great asset to any team” due to his wealth of knowledge on the game.
Kold actually got his first taste of pro play across the Atlantic with Enemy Esports in the LCS. But after a subpar 2015 Summer Split, he eventually made his way back to Europe with Splyce. He ended up spending a good portion of his career with this organization, making it to Worlds once in 2016.
“We are all super sad to see Kold unable to play,” general manager Martin “Deficio” Lynge said. “Jonas has been one of the leaders on the team all year and to see him miss the Regional Qualifier is terrible. I know that he loves to play these important matches.”
LEC fans saw Origen struggle throughout the summer, failing to find the same kind of success it achieved in the previous Spring Split. From lackluster individual performances to losing against lower-tier teams in the standings, the roster couldn’t scrounge up enough to push themselves into the playoffs.
Although he might not be playing anymore, Kold is still a talented player with plenty of experience that he can provide to a team through coaching and his professional career experience.
