LW Blue pull out of APEX due to Overwatch League commitments

Mert

August 22, 2017

LuxuryWatch Blue have withdrawn from APEX Season 4 three weeks into the tournament as a consequence of their commitments to the Overwatch League. The move was made official by an announcement from OGN:

On August 21 at 23:56 Luxury Watch Blue has notified us about their withdrawal from the tournament... Due to the one-sided notice of abstention, LuxuryWatch Blue's remaining games will be forfeited and their opponents will be awarded one win. (Translated from Korean)

The late notice given by LuxuryWatch has landed the organisation in hot water for the second time this month, drawing controversy earlier due to their late release of Luna and Who before the roster locks for APEX Season 4. OGN has stated that they will refund the ticket costs of the forfeited games and that sanctions will be laid upon LuxuryWatch in the coming days.

The nature of LuxuryWatch Blue's involvement in the Overwatch League is unknown, although it is highly likely that part of or all of the team's roster has been acquired by one of the league's franchise owners. Star player Fl0w3R will not meet the league's age requirements upon it's commencement as he reaches the age of majority in May next year. Their withdrawal was announced just hours after Lunatic-Hai were unveiled as the first six players for the Seoul Overwatch League team.

Comments:

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#1

bweesh

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inb4 NRG????

In all seriousness though I'm so confused because there is obviously no interference and Blizz even said there wasn't going to be interference?

#2

Blue

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wasn't their rumours the patriots signed a korean team? I mean this smells of Billicheck level of notification

#3

Apettysum

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I believe flow3r turns 18 before league play starts. Majority is 19 in Korea, but he could play in the US. :thinking:

#7

Sayabi

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Well if they play in the OWL, since the only Korean town already has a team, I believe they won't have any choice.

Maybe the London C9 roster, since they wanted to recruit Koreans?

#4

Pixelfish

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This is... unexpected. Harkens back to the whole discussion of how there will guaranteed be some disapproval if several of the western teams just sign full Korean rosters.

#5

penda

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Why would LWB have to drop from the tournament but LH doesn't :thinking:

#9

Blue

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maybe LW wants to move to that new city and start scrimming that regions teams without the ping issues ASAP, where as LH doesn't have to move

#6

Cambreh

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Yeah, if LH are participating, why isn't LW Blue?

#8

darkcvc

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What team are they!!! ??????? Damn we need more info on OWL teams.

#10

blitz0623

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Boston just tweeted a 'teaser' regarding their OWL team, and combining this with post#2 it's highly likely Kraft signed LW Blue

#11

Pixelfish

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Nah. The tweet said "first signed" not roster ready. They probably found a player to build around. My guess is Birdring, or maybe even someone like Seagull and Surefour.

#12

astr

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LW Blue had three national team members and therefore they didn't have enough time to prepare for the new APEX season. So Metal Bellum gave consideration to LW Blue and played two consecutive games in a week so that LW Blue could have more time to prepare themselves. However, LW Blue took this advantage as a chance to think over and run away. Now Meta coach is mad at this.

LW informed and released its players on the same day and then again they gave notice of pulling out of APEX to OGN at 23:56! It was just 2 days before their first game. Nice job!

#13

Cambreh

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Wow that's kind of scummy on the side of the LW org. They really have not had the reputation as a good org HYPERLUL

#15

darkcvc

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Yea really crappy, also wishing Apex would have stepped up one of the Challengers at least so we can get games.

All the fans lose here because we are getting less games now in Apex. LW and Apex are to blame for that.

#16

Mert

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Highly unlikely that a team would be able to step in at such short notice and be prepared to play in LW Blue's Apex fixtures, hard to see how this falls on APEX (OGN) at all.

#14

Involv3r

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Damn LWB is rolling in low blows these last few weeks. Luna now this, unlucky...

#17

Explodey

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Group D was already pretty easy group. Getting 2nd place in Group D would be so much easier than other groups now. I wish they could add qualifier matches between 3rd place Group A,B,C, and 2nd place Group D. Conbox getting the top 8 spot while two of Lunatic Hai, RunAway, MVP Space, and Meta Athena having to drop just doesn't seem right.

#18

KuroiRyuu9625

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It's looking like Conbox and X6 might already have the top two spots locked in since they both defeated Meta Bellum so at worst they would be 1-1 to Meta Bellum's 0-2.

One thing I will say is that I'm happy for the players and hope that they get to thrive, but I'm also upset that Luna got cut without the chance to adjust only to see even LWB not playing in APEX. I wouldn't want the LWR squad to suffer from this since they're not responsible but I guess we'll have to see how it goes.

Looking forward to knowing who decided to pick this squad up since they looks like a very strong group with a lot of flexibility and meta change proofness.

#19

BenTylerOW

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AFR DIED FOR THIS :candle:

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