One of the big esports organizations made a drastic decision on Thursday when it took the results of its team at the NA Challengers League playoffs seriously. MAD Lions got relegated from the NA Challengers League, and it has sparked a mass exodus
MAD Lions made the decision on Thursday by dropping off its entire VALORANT player roster and staff. All five players, Ange, Trick, N4RRATE, Bjor, and BlackHeart, in addition to coaches Eley and Chopper, were released.
This is coming after MAD Lions lost to OREsports on Monday, June 5, which means that they would follow disguised into the relegation. The season was controversial former blinded from the start, especially after they moved former 100 duelist Will to the substitute role just after they had praised him as a key member of the team during qualifiers.
Furthermore, the team also made some changes to their roster, which eventually affected their performances. One of the issues that affected them was the fight between in-game leader Justin “Trick” Sears and the recently released Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro got into a very public beef on Twitter.
While the Challengers continue as other teams hope to win one of two NA spots at the Americas Ascension tournament, which gives an opportunity for promotion to VCT Americas, tier two continues to project a bleak future as organizations continue to withdraw.
Meanwhile, Head of VALORANT Esports Leo Faria has stated the commitment of Riot to significantly overhaul tier 2 in 2024, saying that there will be competitions year-round and a strong connection with Premier.
NA Challengers League itself may suffer from a similar fate soon, with teams like Disguised Toast and Ludwig’s Moist Moguls have been complaining about the high costs of running a team, and they may drop interest in the near future.
In February, The Guard also dropped a huge number of its staff while TSM is looking to move its flagship League of Legends program to another region.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
