MonteCristo

Christopher Kjell Mykles (born October 19, 1986), better known by his nickname MonteCristo, is an esports league commissioner and former color commentator, analyst, and organization owner.

Christopher Mykles
Born (1986-10-19) October 19, 1986
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMonteCristo
Spouse(s)
Susie Kim
(m. 2017)
Career history
2013–2014Counter Logic Gaming (coach)
2015–2016Renegades (owner)
Sports commentary career
SportsEsports
EmployerOnGameNet (2012–2016)
Blizzard (2017–2019)

He rose to prominence whilst working with League of Legends, most notably as an English-language commentator for OnGameNet, broadcaster of the LCK, from 2012 through 2016. He also worked on the broadcast team for the League of Legends World Championship from 2013 to 2015.[1][2] In 2013 and 2014, he was a coach for Counter Logic Gaming, and from 2015 to 2016 he owned Renegades. He was employed as a shoutcaster for the Overwatch League from 2017 to 2019. In 2020, he became the commissioner of Flashpoint, a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league, and a vice president of the league's parent company.

Career

Mykles's first involvement with esports was as a volunteer writer for WCReplays, a Warcraft 3 replays site. He began shoutcasting for WCReplays with David "Phreak" Turley, later attesting that casting came naturally to him due to many years of stage performance. During his involvement with Warcraft 3, he managed a professional team with Verge Gaming and joined the Team Sportscast Network, a now defunct esports shoutcasting organization.[3] He later accepted a full-time contract casting position at OnGameNet as an English-language caster for League of Legends Champions Korea.[4] Mykles, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, and Christopher "PapaSmithy" Smith declined to commentate at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational in Shanghai because of a wage dispute with Riot.[5][6][7]

In April 2017, Mykles and Lonnquist announced they would be moving from South Korea to the United States to serve as shoutcasters for the Overwatch League.[8] After two seasons with the league, Mykles announced that he would no longer be casting for the OWL ahead of the 2020 season.[9]

After leaving the Overwatch League, he co-founded and briefly worked for an esports advisory firm, before leaving to become a content creator for Cloud9. He joined B Site, a team-owned producer for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league Flashpoint, and in June was named as the league commissioner for Flashpoint and the vice president for brand for B Site.[10]

Coaching and ownership

Counter Logic Gaming

On July 24, 2013, Mykles became a coach for Counter Logic Gaming.[11][12] On September 5, 2014, Mykles left his coaching position at CLG.[13]

Renegades

On June 22, 2015, Mykles became a co-owner of LA Renegades.[14] On May 8, 2016, Riot Games announced that Team Impulse and Renegades were banned from the LCS. Additionally, Mykles would be banned from all Riot-sponsored activities as a team owner or manager for a year, though he could continue casting for those events.[15][16][17] The punishment stemmed from charges of not properly disclosing team ownership, misleading player trades, and player mistreatment.[18][19] Renegades later sold their LoL team to Team EnVyUs.

Personal life

On November 29, 2018, he gained notability on social media after inviting other esports personalities to an event he was hosting titled "Esports Mystery", which was later revealed to be his wedding with Susie "LilSusie" Kim.[20] He later revealed that they had been married since June 2017, but wanted to wait before announcing their marriage to the public.[21]

References

  1. "LoL Esports". www.lolesports.com. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  2. "김몬테 "이번 롤챔스 우승은 당연히 SKT T1 K" - 인터뷰/칼럼 - 디스이즈게임". Thisisgame.com. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  3. "Christopher Mykles". eSports Industry Awards 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
  4. "롤드컵] 김몬테(Montecristo) 롤챔스 해설의 한국팀 사랑 : 헝그리앱 모바일 게임뉴스". M.hungryapp.co.kr. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  5. "League of Legends casters boycotting Shanghai event over wage dispute with Riot". Polygon. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  6. "MonteCristo, DoA, and PapaSmithy won't cast MSI following payment controversy". The Daily Dot. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  7. "Why Monte, DoA and PapaSmithy don't need Riot". Espn.go.com. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  8. Erzberger, Tyler (April 14, 2017). "MonteCristo, DoA to depart South Korea to cast Blizzard's Overwatch League in U.S." ESPN. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  9. Wolf, Jacob (December 31, 2019). "Veteran analyst MonteCristo announces departure from Overwatch League". ESPN. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  10. Wolf, Jacob (17 June 2020). "MonteCristo named commissioner of Flashpoint and VP of B Site". ESPN.
  11. "'세라프' 신우영, 북미 게임단 CLG 입단". M.esports.dailygame.co.kr. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  12. Liebl, Lance (24 July 2013). "MonteCristo becomes coach of CLG League of Legends team". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  13. "Montecristo, Counter Logic Gaming part ways". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  14. "Misfits rebrands as Renegades, picks up Vox Eminor CS:GO team, adds MonteCristo as co-owner". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  15. "Renegades, TDK banned from all Riot-sanctioned leagues". theScore esports. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  16. "Riot bans Renegades, Team Impulse and Team Dragon Knights from sanctioned League of Legends play - The Rift Herald". Riftherald.com. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  17. "Jätteskandal i LCS: LOL-profilen stängs av". Esport.aftonbladet.se. 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  18. Prescott, Shaun (26 July 2016). "New details emerge on banned League of Legends team Renegades". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  19. "Renegades, Riot and the danger of absolute power". ESPN.com. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  20. Donigan, Wyatt (November 30, 2018). "The #EsportsMystery has finally been solved". Dexerto.
  21. MonteCristo [@MonteCristo] (9 December 2018). "Yes, around 5 years. We got married in June 2017 but waited to announce until we had the wedding in America" (Tweet) via Twitter.

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