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,
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.
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]
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
* 4th –
2016 NA LCS Summer regular season
* 4th –
2016 NA LCS Summer 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