The ceremonial folding of the EU flag has been completed. A star spangled banner now flies in its place. For all intents and purposes the Hollywood Hammers are now a NA team. Take a moment to remember our fallen brothers.

Their transition was a quirky one, phasing in and out of regions as they successfully competed in the Contenders NA Qualifier 2 while still on site at TaKeTV in Krefeld, Germany. A week later they would depart Europe to establish a new base in Hollywood centred around their home arena at the TCL Chinese Theatre.

When Sideshow last checked in with his fellow Chavs they were just preparing to attend TaKeOver 2. A 3-1 win over Misfits and a 2-2 draw with Cloud9 would be the high points of their tournament, allowing them to progress to the playoffs where they would be immediately eliminated by Movistar Riders in familiar fashion. You know a team has really got your number when you feel running 5,500 miles in the opposite direction is the most effective strategy...

On the Sunday night of TaKeOver 2 whilst everyone else was blowing off steam after a brutal tournament, Hammers were still pushing themselves in the sweatbox conditions, battling through the Contenders NA Qualifier 2 open bracket. They managed to overcome the ping disadvantage to take down EnVision eSports 2-0 before succumbing 2-1 to Toronto Esports in the early hours of the morning.

Their toil was rewarded with a 12th-13th qualification seeding, but the group draw since then has not been kind to them. Landing in Group D — the certified group of death — alongside Kungarna, Renegades and Cloud9, it is hard to say how they will fair. On one hand, they are at their best against tank heavy teams. On the other, they are still finding their footing in a new continent, contending with jetlag, moving in and E3 commitments.

Coach Kirby took a breather from the E3 mayhem to share his thoughts with over.gg on their recent results and current preparations for the Contenders group stage:

"Considering the circumstances surrounding TakeOver2 w/ the Contenders Qualifiers at the same time, we're pretty happy with our performance in both events. We felt like we were able to compete with some really good teams.

We're now in NA, starting our journey with some activities at the MediaMation MX4D booth at E3.

We're still not quite settled in, housing and equipment wise, so our practice going into the Contenders Group Stage will be minimal, which considering our group, might be a bit of a challenge. But as always, we'll do our best, try and compete, to make the HAMFAM proud."

Catch them competing in Contenders this Sunday, 18th June. The Hollywood Hammers are still:

  • German "Nesh" Kobrin (DPS)
  • Erik "Snizzlenose" Hedåker (DPS)
  • Mads "Fischer" Jehg (Flex)
  • Christopher "ChrisTFer" Graham (Tank)
  • Jonas "Shaz" Suovaara (Support)
  • Tamás "tomzeY" Bordás (Support)
  • Yann "Kirby" Luu (Coach)