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Palafox
NRG Palafox 2023 Split 2
Background Information
NameCristian Palafox
Country of Birth
United States
BirthdayJuly 8, 1999 (age 24)
Residency
NA
North America
Competitive
TeamNRGlogo stdNRG
Contract Expires2024-11-19
Role
Mid Laner
Favorite Champs

Soloqueue IDsNA: Palafox
2004 07 08
Social Media & Links
Infobox Twitchlogo std
Infobox Twitterlogo std

Cristian "Palafox" (▶️ listen) Palafox is a League of Legends esports player, currently mid laner for NRG.

Team History

Combine Role Swaps:No|Yes
Dates:Approx|Exact
TeamStartEnd
NA
Logo stdTeam Blaze
≈Apr 2016≈2016-04-23≈May 2016≈2016-05-01≈8d
ejel
NA
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOpTic Academy
Jan 20182018-01-03[2]Nov 20182018-11-19[1]10mo 16d
ejel
NA
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG Academy
Dec 20182018-12-18[4]Nov 20192019-11-20[3]11mo 2d
ejel
NA
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9 Academy
Nov 20192019-11-20[6]Nov 20202020-11-16[5]1yr 26d
ejel
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFlyQuest
Nov 20202020-11-23[8]Jul 20212021-07-06[7]7mo 13d
ejel
NA
FlyQuest Academylogo stdFlyQuest Academy
Jul 20212021-07-06[7]Jul 20212021-07-2721d
ejel
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFlyQuest
Jul 20212021-07-27[10]Nov 20212021-11-17[9]3mo 21d
ejel
NA
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
Nov 20212021-11-19[12]Apr 20232023-04-06[11]1yr 4mo
ejel
NA
NRGlogo stdNRG
Apr 20232023-04-06[13]Present11mo 12d
ej
TeamStartEnd
NA
Logo stdTeam Blaze
≈Apr 2016≈2016-04-23≈May 2016≈2016-05-01≈8d
ejel
NA
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOpTic Academy
Jan 20182018-01-03[2]Nov 20182018-11-19[1]10mo 16d
ejel
NA
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG Academy
Dec 20182018-12-18[4]Nov 20192019-11-20[3]11mo 2d
ejel
NA
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9 Academy
Nov 20192019-11-20[6]Nov 20202020-11-16[5]1yr 26d
ejel
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFlyQuest
Nov 20202020-11-23[8]Jul 20212021-07-06[7]7mo 13d
ejel
NA
FlyQuest Academylogo stdFlyQuest Academy
Jul 20212021-07-06[7]Jul 20212021-07-2721d
ejel
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFlyQuest
Jul 20212021-07-27[10]Nov 20212021-11-17[9]3mo 21d
ejel
NA
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
Nov 20212021-11-19[12]Apr 20232023-04-06[11]1yr 4mo
ejel
NA
NRGlogo stdNRG
Apr 20232023-04-06[13]Present11mo 12d
ej

News

  • 2016
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
NA
Logo stdBLAZApril 23 (approx.),
sha bi,
Kazahana,
W0WFIXZ,
Saranghamnida, and
909101 join.
NA
Logo stdBLAZMay 1 (approx.),
sha bi,
Kazahana,
W0WFIXZ,
Saranghamnida, and
909101 leave.
NA
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOPT.AJanuary 3, OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOpTic Gaming Academy is formed.
Dhokla,
Kadir,
Palafox,
Andy, and
Winter join.
[2]
NA
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOPT.ANovember 19,
Palafox's contract expires.[1]
NA
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOPT.ADecember 18,
Palafox's departure is confirmed.[14]
NA
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG.ADecember 18,
Hard and
Palafox join.
[4]
NA
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG.AJanuary 4,
Hard's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 16 November 2021.
Palafox's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2020.[15]
NA
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG.ANovember 20,
Palafox leaves.[3]
NA
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.ANovember 20,
Palafox joins.
[6]
NA
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.ANovember 22,
Palafox's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 15 November 2022.[16]
NA
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.ANovember 16,
Palafox and
Diamond leave.[5]
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFLYNovember 23,
Licorice,
Palafox, and
Diamond join.
[8]
Licorice and
Palafox's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 15 November 2022.
Diamond's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 21 November 2023.[17]
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFLYJuly 6,
Kumo,
Nxi,
Triple,
Tomo,
Diamond, and Phantiks (Assistant Coach) join from academy roster.

Licorice leaves.
Josedeodo,
Palafox,
Johnsun, and
Dreams leave for academy roster.[7]
NA
FlyQuest Academylogo stdFLY.AJuly 6,
Josedeodo,
Palafox, and
Johnsun join from main roster.

Dreams rejoins from main roster.
[7]
NA
FlyQuest Academylogo stdFLY.AJuly 27,
Josedeodo and
Palafox leave for main roster.
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFLYJuly 27,
Josedeodo and
Palafox join from academy roster.

Nxi and
Triple leave for academy roster.[10]
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFLYOctober 30,
Palafox is allowed to look for opportunities with other teams.[18]
NA
FlyQuestlogo stdFLYNovember 17,
Palafox and Kanani (Head Coach) leave.[9]
NA
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLGNovember 19,
Jenkins,
Contractz,
Palafox,
Luger, and
Poome join.
[12]
Jenkins,
Palafox,
Luger, and
Poome's contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2024.
Contractz's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 21 November 2023.[19]
NA
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLGNovember 29,
Dhokla,
Contractz,
Palafox,
Luger, and
Poome will remain with the team for 2023.[20]
NA
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLGApril 6,
Dhokla,
Contractz,
Palafox,
Luger,
Poome, Thinkcard (Head Coach), Croissant (Strategic Coach), 1onz (Analyst), Gunaso (Analyst), Rudeclaw (Manager), Rush (Streamer,Content Creator), Adrian Riven (Content Creator), Damonte (Positional Coach), Nemo (Content Creator), soaZ (Positional Coach), and
Apollo (Positional Coach) leave.[11]
NA
NRGlogo stdNRGApril 6, CLG's LCS infrastructure transfers to NRG.
Dhokla,
Contractz,
Palafox,
Luger,
Poome, Thinkcard (Head Coach), Croissant (Strategic Coach), 1onz (Analyst), Gunaso (Analyst), myra (Manager), Rudeclaw (Manager), Damonte (Positional Coach), and soaZ (Positional Coach) join.

Apollo (Positional Coach) joins as substitute.
[13]
NA
NRGlogo stdNRGApril 14,
Dhokla and
Apollo (Positional Coach)'s contracts are transferred to NRGlogo stdNRG in the GCD, expiring on 21 November 2023.
Contractz,
Palafox,
Luger, and
Poome's contracts are transferred to NRGlogo stdNRG in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2024.[21]

Biography[]

Palafox is from Redwood City, California. He played for Team Ocean Drake in the 2017 NA Scouting Grounds, where he worked with OpTic Gaming coach Zaboutine. Despite Palafox having little competitive experience compared to many other players at the event, Zaboutine signed him to OpTic Gaming Academy. However, Palafox and the rest of OpTic Academy played from a team house in Texas with limited access to computers, which hampered practice and performance. After an unsuccessful year, Palafox moved to Golden Guardians Academy. His new team, which contained many ex-LCS players, faced issues with team cohesion; according to Palafox, "There was a lot of egos on that team."[22]

After his third straight split finishing near the bottom of the academy standings, Palafox did not look like a top prospect. The mid-season additions of Darshan, FBI, huhi, and coach Inero turned the struggling academy team around and gave Palafox the opportunity to showcase his talents on a skilled team. After finishing 2nd in both the summer regular split and playoffs, Palafox was signed to the successful Cloud9 Academy for the 2020 season. C9 Academy was dominant that year and Palafox turned heads as a top North American prospect.

2021 Season[]

For the 2021 season, Palafox was signed to FlyQuest as an LCS starter. Alongside players such as Licorice, Josedeodo, and Johnsun, FlyQuest was projected to be a dark horse team with a shot at contesting the top organizations.[23] However, FlyQuest struggled the entire year, finishing the season with a record of 14-31. Near the end of summer, Palafox was even dropped back down to academy and replaced by Triple, although he did return to the main roster for its final three games.

2022 Season[]

Palafox received another chance as an LCS starter, this time for CLG. CLG's roster consisted of many North American players who had once been considered top prospects but who had struggled recently, such as Contractz, Poome, and Palafox himself. In spring, the team finished 8th, close to expectations. However, with the addition of Dhokla, the summer split ended with a 4th place regular season finish and a record of 11-7. Palafox in particular stood out as an impressive performer. Although the team was eliminated in playoffs by Team Liquid in a close 3-2 series, the improvement CLG and its players showed over the course of the year left many optimistic about the team's future prospects.

Trivia[]

  • Although he was born in California, he spent the first few years of his life in Mexico.
  • Reached Rank 1 on the North American server in 2020.
  • His favorite pro player is Rookie.
  • Is from the same city as Contractz; they went to rival high schools.
  • Nicknamed "Palafaker" by fans when playing well.
  • Is part of the copypasta "I have met him in a scrimmage, and my opponent, midfielder Palafox, is powerful and seems like a genius," which originates from a poorly translated quote by Xiaohu.
  • Began his pro career favoring control mages, but later branched out to become proficient on melee assassins like AkaliSquareAkali.

Pentakills

DateRegionTournamentTeamVsChampionPosW/LKDASBVOD
2020-04-10
NA
North America
NA Academy 2020 Spring PlayoffsCloud9 Academylogo stdTSM Academylogo std
Kassadin
MidW17/2/7LinkLink
Click here for a full list of pentakills by all players.

Tournament Results[]

This table shows up to the 10 most recent results. For complete results, click here.

Minimum place

Palafox Tournament Results
DatePlEventLast ResultTeamRoster
2024-03-165 - 6 LCS 2024 Spring Playoffs
2 : 3100 Thieveslogo std100
NRGlogo stdNRG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  FBI,  huhi,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2024-03-106 LCS 2024 Spring
6 - 8Blanklogo stdRR
NRGlogo stdNRG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  FBI,  huhi,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2023-12-035 - 6 CBOLÃO Season 6
0 : 1Logo std100K
Logo stdNEAR Licorice,  Spica,  Palafox,  Reven,  CoreJJ
2023-11-025 - 8 Worlds 2023
0 : 3Weibo Gaminglogo stdWBG
NRGlogo stdNRG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  FBI,  IgNar,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2023-08-201 LCS 2023 Championship
3 : 1Cloud9logo stdC9
NRGlogo stdNRG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  FBI,  IgNar,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2023-07-215 LCS 2023 Summer
9 - 9Blanklogo stdRR
NRGlogo stdNRG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  FBI,  IgNar,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2023-03-265 - 6 LCS 2023 Spring Playoffs
0 : 3Evil Geniuses.NAlogo stdEG
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  Luger,  Poome,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2023-03-174 LCS 2023 Spring
10 - 8Blanklogo stdRR
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  Luger,  Poome,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2022-09-015 - 6 LCS 2022 Championship
2 : 3Team Liquidlogo stdTL
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  Luger,  Poome,  Thinkcard,  Croissant
2022-08-144 LCS 2022 Summer
11 - 7Blanklogo stdRR
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG Dhokla,  Contractz,  Palafox,  Luger,  Poome,  Thinkcard,  Croissant

Media[]

  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
  • 2024

Post-Match Interviews

DateTournamentMatchLink
2023-10-20Worlds 2023 Main Event
NRGlogo stdNRG
vs
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
Link
2023-08-20LCS 2023 Championship
Cloud9logo stdC9
vs
NRGlogo stdNRG
2023-08-19LCS 2023 Championship
NRGlogo stdNRG
vs
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
Link
2023-08-06LCS 2023 Championship
Golden Guardianslogo stdGG
vs
NRGlogo stdNRG
Link
2023-07-28LCS 2023 Championship
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
vs
NRGlogo stdNRG
Link
2023-07-07LCS 2023 Summer
NRGlogo stdNRG
vs
Evil Geniuses.NAlogo stdEG
Link
2023-06-24LCS 2023 Summer
Cloud9logo stdC9
vs
NRGlogo stdNRG
Link
2023-03-16LCS 2023 Spring
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
vs
Team Liquidlogo stdTL
Link
2023-01-27LCS 2023 Spring
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
vs
Evil Geniuses.NAlogo stdEG
Link
2022-08-26LCS 2022 Championship
Golden Guardianslogo stdGG
vs
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
Link
2022-08-14LCS 2022 Summer
Immortalslogo stdIMT
vs
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
Link
2022-03-26LCS 2022 Spring
Immortalslogo stdIMT
vs
Counter Logic Gaminglogo stdCLG
Link
2021-02-28LCS 2021 Spring
FlyQuestlogo stdFLY
vs
TSMlogo stdTSM
Link
2020-08-28NA Academy 2020 Summer Playoffs
TSM Academylogo stdTSM.A
vs
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.A
Link
2020-08-22NA Academy 2020 Summer Playoffs
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.A
vs
CLG Academylogo stdCLG.A
Link
2020-07-10NA Academy 2020 Summer
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.A
vs
TSM Academylogo stdTSM.A
Link
2020-03-07NA Academy 2020 Spring
Cloud9 Academylogo stdC9.A
vs
TSM Academylogo stdTSM.A
Link
2019-07-26NA Academy 2019 Summer
Golden Guardians Academylogo stdGG.A
vs
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOPT.A
Link
2018-06-30NA Academy 2018 Summer
Echo Fox Academylogo stdFOX.A
vs
OpTic Gaming Academylogo stdOPT.A
Link

Images[]

Name Pronunciation

Palafox
AccuracyRiot
Voiced ByRaafaa

Redirects

The following pages redirect here:

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2018-11-18; after change - NA - 2018-11-19
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 OpTicLoL's Tweet twitter.com
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Golden Guardians' Tweet twitter.com
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 GGS SPRING 2019 ROSTER & STAFF UPDATE youtube.com
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cloud9's Tweet twitter.com
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Golden Guardians' Tweet twitter.com
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 FlyQuest's Tweet twitter.com
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 FlyQuest's Tweet twitter.com
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 FlyQuest's Tweet twitter.com
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 FlyQuest's Tweet twitter.com
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 NRG Newsletter, April 6th, 2023 nrg.gg
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 CLG's Tweet twitter.com
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 NRG Newsletter, April 6th, 2023 nrg.gg
  14. GGS SPRING 2019 ROSTER & STAFF UPDATE youtube.com
  15. Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-01-04
  16. Archive Pages: before change - ; after change - NA - 2019-11-22
  17. Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2020-11-22; after change - NA - 2020-11-23
  18. Palafox's Tweet twitter.com
  19. Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2021-11-18; after change - NA - 2021-11-19
  20. CLG's Tweet twitter.com
  21. Archive Pages: before change - NA - 2023-04-13; after change - NA - 2023-04-14
  22. The Palafox Story: ‘If I think a play is good, I’ll go for it no matter what’ upcomer.com
  23. LCS 2021: Why Fans Should Be Excited for FlyQuest blogoflegends.com
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