Aphromoo will play ADC for CLG this week after Stixxay hospitalized

Counter Logic Gaming starting AD Carry Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes will miss his team’s Week 9’s matches after being hospitalized Saturday, the organization announced on Reddit. Long-time starting support and former AD Carry Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black will take over for Stixxay in his absence, while mid lane substitute Joseph “Joey” Haslemann will fill in at support.

Due to a medical emergency last night, Stixxay will sadly not be able to compete in today's games. Aphromoo will be the starting AD carry with substitute player Joseph “Joey” Haslemann playing as support. Please wish Stixxay well and a speedy recovery!

The reason for Stixxay’s hospitalization is unknown, but he tweeted this picture and appears to be in good spirits.

As for Joey, according to the broadcast, he’s a 17-year-old high school student who has never played with Aphromoo before. He reportedly received the call Friday night and arrived after a 4 a.m. flight from Northern California, working on a paper due this weekend on his phone on the flight.

After a slow start to the 2017 NA LCS Spring Split, CLG has been on a hot streak as of late. After a 1-3 record through two weeks, CLG has gone 8-4 since, including a 6-2 record over the last four weeks of play.

As a result, the team has shot up from ninth place to a relatively secure fourth, with a spot in the playoffs already guaranteed. With a bad week nine, CLG could still finish as low as sixth place, which would be the difference between a first-round matchup against manageable Dignitas, Immortals or FlyQuest and one against third-place Phoenix1.

CLG plays 7-9 Immortals, fighting for one of the final three playoff spots, Saturday afternoon. The final series of CLG’s regular season will come against last-place Team Envy on Sunday.

Aphromoo was an AD Carry for the first three years of his professional career, switching to support in January 2014 when he rejoined CLG’s roster after a stint with Team Curse. He has since become arguably the greatest North American support in League history, and is one of the most decorated players the region has ever produced regardless of position.

Stixxay ranks second among all NA LCS AD Carries in kills this year, with 154 in 39 games played (Phoenix1’s Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon has 155 in 37 games). He also leads all NA LCS ADCs in CS difference at 10 minutes (minimum 20 games played) and is third in damage per minute (behind Arrow and Cloud9’s Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi).