Darshan Upadhyaya, better known mononymously as Darshan and as ZionSpartan, is a Canadian-born American ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' player who played professionally from 2012–2023. He is most known for his four-and-a-half-year tenure as

Counter Logic Gaming Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) was an American esports organization headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in April 2010 by George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis and Alexander "Vodoo" Beutel as a ''League of Legends'' team, and branche ...

'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. ZionSpartan and CLG also won the 2015 NALCS Summer Split as well as the 2016 NALCS Spring Split. 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. 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.

Personal life

Upadhyaya was born on November 12, 1994, and is of Indian origin. He resided in

Poway Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city had a population of 48,841 as of the 2020 United States census. Poway is part of San Diego's Eas ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, before joining professional esports. 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." Upadhyaya announced on Twitter in November 2023 that he was retiring from eSports.

Tournament results

Counter Logic Gaming

* 1st – 2015 Summer NA LCS * 12–13th –

2015 League of Legends World Championship The 2015 ''League of Legends'' World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game ''League of Legends''. It was the fifth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, ''League of Legends'' W ...

* 2nd – IEM X San Jose * 1st – 2016 Spring NA LCS * 2nd –

2016 Mid-Season Invitational The 2016 Mid-Season Invitational was the second event of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), a ''League of Legends'' tournament by Riot Games. It took place from March 4 to March 15, 2016, in Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, Pudong, Shanghai, Chin ...

* 4th –

2016 NA LCS Summer The 2016 NA LCS season was the fourth year of the North American ''League of Legends'' Championship Series. It was divided into spring and summer splits, each consisting of a regular season and playoff stage. Regular season games were played in ...

regular season * 4th –

playoffs

References

{{Reflist League of Legends top lane players Counter Logic Gaming players Dignitas (esports) players Golden Guardians players Team Curse players American esports players Canadian expatriates in the United States People from Poway, California Living people 1994 births Canadian people of Indian descent American people of Indian descent