On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020, Marc "Caedrel" Lamont announced his retirement from League of Legends esports as a professional player. The Excel Esports jungler will hang up his mouse and keyboard from his time in the League of Legends European Championship and will be moving into a freelance talent position after receiving widespread acclaim for his work as a caster and analyst during the 2020 LEC Summer Playoffs, 2020 EU Masters, and Worlds 2020.

During the 2020 League of Legends World Championship, Caedrel spoke to Inven Global about the overwhelmingly positive response from the community about his new role as a caster and an analyst and what that meant for him in the context of his career as a professional player.

Excel Esports' 2020 season ended after a 7th place finish in the 2020 LEC Summer Split barred the team from the post-season and subsequently, Worlds 2020 qualification. Caedrel was invited onto the analyst desk for the 2020 LEC Summer Playoffs and was displayed impressive poise when sharing the pro player's perspective on the European post-season. Caedrel didn't think much of his broadcast debut at the time, but little did he know it was just the beginning of a new career chapter.

Following his stint on the analyst desk for the LEC Summer Playoffs, Caedrel was approached by Trevor "Quickshot" Henry with a new opportunity in hand for European Masters 2020 Summer. "I was asked to be on the LEC analyst desk for a few days in the playoffs. And then Quickshot asked me if I wanted to do EU Masters too," Caedrel explained to Inven Global. 

Caedrel took preparation for the event seriously, and that preparation  paid off at the event and beyond.

"So I did a practice cast with a friend for a few days I did a couple of casts in EU Masters, did the finals too, and after that Trevor asked me if I wanted to do Worlds as well, including some days of casting the play-ins, so I was like, 'Damn, son.' [laughs] I gave it my best, I think I got my points across but perhaps my broadcast is lacking a little bit due to inexperience."

Caedrel impressed throughout his casting at Worlds 2020, but admitted that there were some aspects of his personality that held him back alongside others that he only became aware of during Worlds 2020:  "It's definitely more challenging for me because I'm not much of an emotional person, I suppose.

If someone does a hype play, I'm not going to jump out of the chair in my bedroom.. .on broadcast, I learned that I was actually jumping up in the air, screaming, and pointing at things. It kind of unlocked a part of me I didn't know existed. [laughs]"

Caedrel's retirement has come far before his playing days are behind him, but the former professional jungler was contemplating the future of his career when speaking with Inven Global: "When we were locked out before the playoffs, I thought I needed to reestablish what I think about my career, how I think about my performance, where I want to go.

But after this casting gig, and all these people sending messages — I doubled my followers in three weeks — all these huge personalities reaching out to me and showing me praise and love and endless DMs that I never received as a pro... There's so much appreciation for a pro player as a caster. I think the last one was Deficio, obviously. He's now gone, so it all came down to me being that new boy on the block that's similar to him but could be better or something similar that people enjoy.

That's something I've struggled with despite all the hype, all the attention I've been getting. It's kind of created more questions in my head as to what I want to do with my career. My heart tells me I want to be a pro, but my mind is always running, like, maybe casting is for me? I've enjoyed it so much. The community loves it."

Caedrel still has plenty of room to grow as a caster, but his immediate affinity for the new role is undeniable. "I feel I'm a quick learner," Caedrel explained.  "I'm like a sponge now, because all these people are so experienced in what they do, and they've probably been through the same things like me, whether it's errors in their casting or things they had to fix to become the people they are today."

Caedrel has already identified his unique caster strength in his level of game knowledge as a recently retired pro player, a fixture previously occupied by Misfits Gaming Manager Martin "Deficio" Lynge.

"I think obviously my strength is game knowledge. I think I bring a different dynamic to people that they might not have heard before — maybe they have from Deficio — because I like to talk about how the game is progressing, what to expect in the next couple of minutes, what the game state is regardless of the gold lead. Those are things pro players can pick up quite easily. Even if a game is 0-0 at 10 minutes, you can expect what's gonna happen."

Caedrel's retirement comes at a time where he was still a LEC-caliber jungler, but he has found a new calling in a profession that suits him in an unparalleled fashion when compared to both former and active professional LoL esports players. The League of Legends esports scene as a whole benefits from Caedrel's transition into freelance casting and desk talent, and the recently retired jungler's well-packaged analysis should make him a hot commodity in 2021. 

All images by: Michal Konkol for Riot Games

For more LoL Esports news and content, head over to our dedicated League of Legends section!

Find full schedules, brackets, and more for your favorite esports on Juked.gg!