After picking up a top French team earlier this month with only five players on the roster, Team Aera have lost one of their star players, tek. The gap has quickly been plugged by new tank poinT, prompting the team to also move their communication into English. Aera are still searching for a dps replacement.

tek was a former TF2 pro who had experience playing alongside Exon and Hidan. His aim and abilities particularly on Pharah were instrumental in how Aera played in early July. He left the team this week, prompting Aera to shuffle a few roles and recruit a tank replacement.

Team Aera have competed in a number of tournament since being picked up, contesting tier two teams but frequently being knocked out in straight maps by serious opposition before this week. Their main short-term aspirations were to establish themselves as the best French team before looking outwards; they have yet to test themselves against GamersOrigin or Melty in a wider tournament.

Their new player, poinT, was last seen playing for Triple V before they recently folded. Aera spotted an opportunity and grabbed him for the roster. This move was a two-pronged approach, aiming to fill their tank spot with a competent player as well as motivate them to re-design their communication in English. Aera have been having issues with communication for a while now, says Hidan, and by using English they have made their calls concise and forced players to focus in-game. This move also opens them up to further international players on their roster.

Since playing with poinT, the team has leapt up the ladder. Earlier this week in The Battle Playoffs they beat OWKings 3-1, and also managed to take a map from Misfits. If the team continues to play at this level or improve further they will be fiercely contesting Melty for the best team in France.

Members of Aera report that their former teammate tek is on his way to Melty. When asked if the team felt any annoyance at tek leaving for a perceived better team, Hidan told us:

Dat question tho. Of course yes, but we’re better without tek actually. Because when poinT joined, that gave us motivation I think. After tek left, we were like “ok we have to continue”. Exon is doing very well. It’s like we transformed after tek left, and like I said, we focus more on calls now thanks to english...the communication is cleaner when we don’t speak our own language.

The French scene in esports is notoriously exclusive and talented. Their own domestic orgs, LANs, and politics frequently drive teams to only recruit from within France. Team Aera are doing the opposite, and so far the results speak for themselves.

Team Aera are still searching for an international dps player. Their current roster is:

  • Ludo "nuja" Olaizola (Flex)
  • Mikaël "Hidan" Da Silva (Support)
  • Nino "Platernity" Junghans (Support)
  • Kevin "Exon" Riou (DPS)
  • Andrea “poinT” Bozzo (Tank)
  • Frederic "triseaux" Blanc (Manager)