Championship ‘Overwatch’ Team Disbands Before Official Start Of ‘Overwatch’ League

In a shocking move, one of the most successful Overwatch teams in the United States has dissolved right before the official Overwatch League’s first season gets underway. The team is the Las Vegas Rogue, owned by music producer Steve Aoki, and they split up when the Overwatch League (OWL) denied their entry.

The Overwatch League Rejects the Rogue

Esports Pro reported that the Overwatch League rejected the entry of the Las Vegas Rogue, despite the team being the most successful Overwatch team outside of Korea. The team has even played in the OGN APEX tournaments in Korea and proved to be some of the best Overwatch players in the world.

This year alone, the Las Vegas Rogue came in first place in six different Overwatch competitions and their obvious next step was to try and take the crown in the first season of the Overwatch League. The fact is that the very best Overwatch team in the United States was denied entry into what is supposed to be the top league as well.

According to ESPN, the Las Vegas Rogue tried to sell off their players but then decided to simply dissolve the team and allow their players to try and sign with the teams accepted into the Overwatch League so that they could still play in the first season.

The first two major players to find a new team was Terence “SoOn” Tarlier and Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson. These two stars signed with the Los Angeles Overwatch team. The players only have until October 30 to sign with a new team.

Las Vegas Rogue Future Overwatch Plans

The co-founder of the Las Vegas Rogues, Frank Villarreal, released a statement (via Nerd Much) that said he was disappointed that they had to break up their championship roster. He credited all his players with representing Las Vegas in an outstanding fashion and wished them luck.

Villarreal then finished by saying that the Las Vegas Rogue will put together another team next year. Their hopes are to get into the Overwatch League in its second season.

The Rogue owners had secured the money to buy into the Overwatch League and had completed the full application process. They also had the pedigree, with all their championships. Steve Aoki called it a disappointment that Blizzard chose to pass on their formidable team.

There will be 12 teams in the Overwatch League’s first season and they are all set in stone. The first two that released press releases announcing their entry into the league were the Dallas Fuel and the Shanghai Dragons.

[Featured Image by Marco Verch / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)]