After a year-long break, Lucas "Santorin" Larsen has made his grand return to professional play with NORD Esports in the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC), now in better and healthier conditions. Once one of the most well-regarded players in North America, the Danish jungler has built a strong reputation over his long competitive career and is now starting the next chapter of his life, alongside his family and wife. In the first part of an exclusive interview with Sheep Esports, Santorin discusses the circumstances surrounding his initial retirement and departure from North America, while emphasizing the importance of physical health.

When you retired, you mentioned wanting to spend more time with your family and fiancée after years of long-distance and competing abroad. How has life been since leaving the LCS and Dignitas in 2023? What have you been up to?

Lucas "Santorin" Larsen: "I've been streaming consistently, but that's about it. A lot of people might not know this, but Kelsie and I got married last year, which was amazing. Since then, I’ve mostly been streaming and spending more time with family, something I felt was missing the most over the last ten years. That was the main reason I retired—I wanted to finally live with Kelsie and be closer to my parents. I left home at 17, and at the time, I was playing in the U.S. while my family was in Denmark. Then, a bit later in my career, when I met Kelsie, she was in Canada, so it definitely felt like my life was all over the place, both figuratively and literally.

I still felt I could keep playing professionally, but I wanted to do it from Denmark. That’s why I said I wouldn’t play in major leagues like the LEC, LCS, LCK, or LPL again. Now that I’m in NORD, I’m still competing, but it feels more semi-pro than fully professional. It’s different because I was used to being with my team 24/7, where all that mattered was improving at League of Legends. Now, other things—especially family—are just as important.

Was it difficult to readjust to life in Europe after spending so many years in North America?

Santorin: To some degree, for sure. The biggest thing was leaving behind the friends I made in North America and realizing I didn’t have as many close connections in Europe anymore. When I left school, I had friends from middle school, high school, and football, but coming back ten years later, I realized everyone else had moved on with their lives too.

It’s been interesting reconnecting with old friends, but we’ve taken completely different paths. Some friendships were just based on being in the same place at the same time—whether that was school or sports—but beyond that, we don’t have much in common anymore.

Honestly, the hardest part was leaving behind the people I got close to in North America. I built so many friendships there, and now it’s difficult to maintain them. Sure, I can message them on Discord, but it’s weird not being able to see them in person. And the time zones? A nine-hour difference makes staying in touch even harder.

After retiring, some former pros go back to school or take on new jobs. Have you felt the need to do that, or are you able to live comfortably? Have you considered transitioning into a different career?

Santorin: Right now, I’m just streaming and focusing on improving my body because, throughout my career, I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and pain.

I remember that even before you went pro, you played football but had to stop due to injuries, right?

Santorin: Yeah, exactly. I had a knee injury for about eight years and couldn’t run at all. All the time I used to spend running or playing football went into League of Legends, which is why I improved so quickly—I just had so much free time.

But yeah, I’ve dealt with pain and injuries my whole life. While I was playing pro, I found ways to manage it so it wouldn’t get worse—nothing too severe—but it still took a toll on my body. I still have a lot of pain. To this day, I can’t even go bowling because it’s too hard on my wrist. I can’t play tennis, not even on Wii Sports—the motion of swinging a controller hurts. So, I have a lot of issues I’m working through because, at the end of the day, health is the most important thing. If it’s a choice between money and health, I’d always choose health.

That said, I loved competition while I was playing pro. That’s also why I’m playing with NORD again—I felt like part of my soul was missing. I just love competing. That’s why I quit school back then, even for basically no paycheck. I went to America for $500 a month and dropped out for that. It was never about the money—I just really felt this was where I could succeed, and I wanted to compete.

Since you're working on improving your body, what does your workout routine look like these days?

Santorin: Unfortunately, over the last couple of months, I’ve been dealing with knee pain again, so I’ve had to stop running for a while and slowly build it back up. My knees have been a consistent issue—that’s why I had to stop playing football in the first place. The rest of my body doesn’t have as many serious problems, but with my knees, I’m not sure what the future holds since the issues keep coming back in different ways. Right now, I’m just rebuilding slowly with walking and similar activities.

At the gym, I’m focused on gradually rebuilding strength. A lot of my exercises involve hanging from my arms—I’m not sure what you call that exactly, but that’s been a big part of my routine. I’m not aiming for crazy numbers or personal records—just slowly regaining strength and reducing pain.

I think it’s already improved a lot. Back when I was playing pro, I was in severe pain—I needed several hours of massages each week to manage it and release pressure. But now, I don’t need those massages as often, which I’m really happy about.

Do you feel like this is something you should have paid more attention to when you were a pro? Do you regret not caring more about your physical health back then?

Santorin: Yeah, definitely. Stretching, in particular, is where I was lacking the most. I’ve always been very inflexible—even when I played football, my coach would tell me, "You need to stretch more," and I’d just say, "I don’t want to stretch." When you’re 15, you don’t think about that stuff—you feel invincible. But it catches up quickly. By the time I was 17, I’d already been dealing with knee issues for two years and had pretty severe wrist pain as well.

I remember when I was 17 or 18, I went to the doctor because my wrist pain was so bad that I thought I might have carpal tunnel. It wasn’t quite that yet, but it was getting there. Some people can go until they’re 40 without major issues, but then there are people like me who develop problems early on. Looking back, I wish I had stretched more.

In terms of workouts, I was pretty consistent throughout my career—I did a lot to strengthen my body. But I never took stretching seriously, and once the issues set in, it was really hard to fix them. A lot of specialists told me it’s hard to recover from those injuries while still playing 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week. You need rest too. So, in a way, it wasn’t until I stopped playing pro that I could actually start fixing these issues. That’s why I’ve been focusing on it more now, and so far, it’s been going pretty well.

In mid-2021, you had to go inactive on Team Liquid for a month due to your health issues. When did you start realizing that your situation was getting rough? Did you consider retiring even before your actual retirement in 2023?

Santorin: Honestly, it happened many times. After 2015 on TSM, I actually announced my retirement for a couple of months. But then I realized maybe I shouldn’t retire just yet. I was feeling really stressed at TSM, not playing well, and just felt done with competitive gaming. But I thought joining another team and having a new experience might be refreshing. That was the first time I seriously considered it.

The next time was probably after H2K, when I was kicked after just six games. I won’t lie—I was in shock. I thought, “I just got kicked from the last-place EU LCS team. This won’t end well.” That was the only time I’ve been benched during a season. But in a way, I was relieved because it was such a dysfunctional team, and I didn’t feel there was much hope. The real question for me was, "Am I ever going to get another opportunity?"

After that, I seriously considered going pro in Fortnite, but I realized I had so much expertise in League of Legends. That’s when FlyQuest picked me up, and my career took a turn for the better. Well, we didn’t win the league, but I started playing better with good teammates.

With Team Liquid, we won back-to-back Lock-In tournaments in 2021 and 2022, but no one really cares about that. Honestly, I didn’t care much either—I’d have rather won Spring or Summer. That’s what I’d been chasing since 2015 on TSM. What hurt the most was not getting to lift another trophy. I remember winning with TSM, but I didn’t feel excited. With that organization, it just felt expected, and what really mattered was performing well at Worlds. Now I know how hard it is to win, and if I had that experience again, I’d appreciate it so much more.

Back to the Team Liquid health issue—there was a time when I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play again because I literally couldn’t look at a screen. It was severe. It was hard to deal with and made me realize I needed to stop pushing my body past its limits. Usually, I’d grind hard every day, and if I had a headache, I’d push through, thinking it would fade. That was my mentality. But that time, I pushed too far, and it got much worse.

Since then, I’ve started listening to my body more. If I get a headache now, I take a break or deal with it properly. At that time, I didn’t want to retire, but I started to wonder if I had to, just because I couldn’t even look at a screen.

When you retired in 2023 after leaving Dignitas, was that decision difficult for you? Did you explore other options, like moving to the LEC, or were you already certain that it was the right time to step away?

Santorin: It’s kind of funny because a lot of people assumed I retired at that time because salaries were starting to go down. But even before signing with Dignitas—after TL—I had already decided with Kelsie that no matter how that year went, I’d retire. So I wasn’t really pursuing anything in the offseason. I was just waiting for my contract to end so I could announce my retirement and move on.

Honestly, I was lucky that my retirement lined up with the salary cuts in the scene. I had no idea that was coming, but it ended up being perfect timing. To be honest, I debated retiring many times throughout my career. Sometimes it was after losing relegation, which was tough. Other times, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to play on a top team again. And, of course, there was the pain—there were moments when I thought, "Is this even worth it anymore?"

But in the end, I retired because I wanted to spend time with my family, and I’m happy that’s the reason I stepped away. The other reasons—frustration or doubt—probably would’ve made me regret it later. But this one? I’d do it again, even if contracts were bigger or salaries were better.

I never seriously considered moving to Germany or LA to keep playing pro, and I still don’t. However, I did hope a team like Astralis would still be in the LEC, where you could play from Copenhagen and fly in for official matches. That would’ve been perfect. But that’s not really an option anymore either.

What would you say was the most impactful moment of your career?

Santorin: I think probably winning IEM Katowice because it was an international tournament. I know it wasn’t the best team from every region, but it still felt different. There was a bigger stage, a bigger crowd, and competing against other regions was something I always thought about. If you watch top teams, they always talk about performing well at Worlds. Winning a regional title feels great, but you want to be the best—not just in your region, but the best of the best.

I didn’t really have that mentality when I joined TSM, but it quickly developed. You hear that if you win the split and make it to Worlds, you’ll do well, and it becomes the expectation. Even though I played in five relegations and lost all five, I wasn’t always a winning player. Back then, I just wanted to make it to the LCS. So when I got the offer to join TSM, I thought, “Holy, that’s not what I expected.” Looking back, I wish I could tell the 17-year-old Lucas, “This is crazy—you’re winning a title this early. This is something you’ll be proud of for the rest of your life.” But at the time, that’s not how it felt. I regret not cherishing that more.

If you had that chance, what’s the main thing you would tell your younger self today?

Santorin: For sure, my biggest regret when I joined TSM was thinking I knew League of Legends better than anyone else. I’d tell my younger self to just be quiet and listen to Bjerg (Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg), Dyrus (Marcus Hill), WildTurtle (Jason Tran), Lustboy (Ham Jang-sik), and the other experienced players. I thought I knew everything, but I didn’t. I’ve been telling others now that the most important thing is to focus on getting better, improving, and working with your teammates to become the best team possible. You’re going to be wrong a lot, especially when you're new to the pro scene.

Playing solo queue and hitting rank one doesn’t automatically make you a good pro player. You have to completely change how you play the game. It’s so much more than solo queue success. I had a bit of a solo queue ego back then, doing well in relegations, but it didn’t compare to playing with those legends. There was also a lot of pressure from TSM, which made me put my walls up even more because I was scared of getting benched. It was hard for 17-year-old me to handle all of that. I wish I had someone to guide me through it, like I try to do for others now.

Have you ever considered coaching, especially after retirement?

Santorin: Yeah, coaching is something I’ve thought about a lot. Even when I had health issues, after a few weeks, I started looking at things again. It was still painful, but I could see what was going on with the team and where I could have done better. I enjoyed helping from backstage, giving advice on drafts or areas of improvement. But of course, it feels a lot better being in the game instead of just waiting backstage, wondering what they're doing.

If an LEC team approached me to coach, I’d be open to it, but the challenge is that I can’t be there in person. I’d consider online coaching and think I could bring a lot of value from my experience with different players and mindsets. I haven’t looked into it much because I’m still focusing on making streaming work, but if streaming doesn’t work out full-time, coaching is definitely something I’m interested in.

If it weren't for League of Legends, is there any other game you would have gone pro in? I know you used to play Counter-Strike a lot, right?

Santorin: Yeah, I’d probably look at Counter-Strike first. I’ve always been good at FPS games, and I played a lot of Counter-Strike and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Even though I went pro in League of Legends, I actually think Modern Warfare 2 is my favorite game of all time. Shooters have always been a big part of my gaming interests.

World of Warcraft, competitively, doesn’t feel like the same kind of esports, so I probably wouldn’t go in that direction. But if I had to pick another game, it would definitely be Counter-Strike. The players there are incredible, and the competition is fierce, so the path would be tough. I’m not sure if I’d ever be good enough to make it, but I’d definitely be passionate about trying.

What’s your relationship with League of Legends nowadays? Do you still enjoy it as much as you did back in Season 2?

Santorin: Honestly, as much as I love flaming League of Legends, it’s probably the only game I could play competitively for over ten years, grinding twelve hours a day. That’s because they keep making changes. If I had to play another game, I’d probably get bored quickly. I can’t be a one-trick, just playing one champion all the time—it gets boring fast. The constant changes in League really keep it exciting for me.

Of course, sometimes they go a bit overboard with their buffs and nerfs, and some patches are pretty ridiculous. But the constant evolution is something I enjoy. This year, though, the jungle hasn’t changed much, and that’s been a bit of a downer. I’ve always looked forward to the yearly jungle changes, with new camps or different spawn timers. It adds something fresh to look forward to.

I still enjoy the game. A lot of it comes from being good at it and playing competitively. If I were as good at another game and could play that competitively, I’d probably switch just for something new. But after playing League for so long, it’s less about the game itself and more about the long-term challenge. Even though I’ve been critical of some recent changes, I’m not hating the game. There are still fun elements, like new champions and items, and even when things get a little crazy—like the Atakhan revive being broken—it’s still fresh, and I find enjoyment in that.

Do you have anything you'd like to say to the fans?

Santorin: I just want to say to all the fans that I'm really excited to be back, even if it's not the same league as before. It's something I’ve missed a lot over the past year and a half. Whether you support me now or not, I just hope you’re still enjoying competitive games. I hope you’ll enjoy following my journey in the NLC."