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Darshan Upadhyaya

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Darshan
Upadhyaya in 2016
Personal information
NameDarshan Upadhyaya
Born (1994-11-12) November 12, 1994 (age 30)
NationalityCanadian–American
Career information
GameLeague of Legends
Playing career2012–2023
RoleTop laner
Team history
2012Monomaniac eSports
2012–2013Team Dynamic
2013Good Game University
2013–2014Team Coast
2014Team Dignitas
2015–2019Counter Logic Gaming
2019–2020GGS Academy
2021–2022Cloud9 Academy
2023100 Thieves Challengers
Career highlights and awards

Darshan Upadhyaya, better known mononymously as Darshan and as ZionSpartan, is a Canadian-born American League of Legends player who played professionally from 2012–2023. He is most known for his four-and-a-half-year tenure as Counter Logic Gaming's top laner from November 2014 to 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 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 held that that position until 2022 or 2023.[6]

Personal life

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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]

Upadhyaya announced on Twitter in November 2023 that he was retiring from eSports.[11]

Tournament results

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Counter Logic Gaming

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References

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  1. ^ Steven Asarch. "'League of Legends' CLG Manages To Beat Crowd Favorite TSM In NA LCS Finals". iDigitalTimes.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  2. ^ "TSM and CLG are in the NA LCS finals (again)". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  3. ^ "G2 Esports, Counter Logic Gaming are the EU and NA LCS champions". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Darshan changes name back to ZionSpartan, embraces his past". 11 January 2020.
  5. ^ Meet The Best League of Legends Academy Team In North America
  6. ^ "NA LCS Players Association Announces Results of Inaugural Executive Officer Election – ARCHIVE - the Esports Observer". 14 June 2018.
  7. ^ Mayur Vashishth. Indian origin personalities in Esports. 22 April 2016. esportsportal.com.
  8. ^ Golden Guardians [@GoldenGuardians] (November 12, 2020). "On his birthday, everybody calls him ZionSpartan" (Tweet). Retrieved May 13, 2021 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ a b 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.
  10. ^ "Even His Teacher Calls Him ZionSpartan". Youtube. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  11. ^ @DarshanU (November 13, 2023). "A decade of league and what's next... Thank you to everyone I had the pleasure of interacting with in eSports. Whether you were a fan, coach, teammate, manager, or even just in the scene, you all had a meaningful impact on my life. These memories will live on forever in my heart. I feel moved to find the ways in which I can give back to this community. I hope you can support me in the next chapter of my life" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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