Luminosity Gaming remove Esper

After a period of sub-par performances, support player and Mercy main Esper has been cut from
Luminosity Gaming. His replacement has not yet been finalised, leaving Luminosity with only five players and prompting their withdrawal from the Beat Invitational.

Luminosity Gaming are currently ranked 6th in the world and 3rd in North America according to the GosuGamers world rankings. However, their recent form suggests that they can reach greater heights after placing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the OG Invitational, Alienware Monthly Melee, and Operation Breakout respectively.

The LG side have been steadily improving over the previous months and now find themselves in a position where they are contesting the truly elite teams of North America and Europe on a consistent basis. Their recent games against Cloud9, REUNITED, Liquid, and other top teams show that they have the calibre to be able to take the crown in tournaments but as yet they have not quite been able to reach their potential.

One of the sticking points for LG in these recent high-velocity matches has been their support and resident Mercy player, Esper. Throughout Operation Breakout, the Monthly Melee, and the OG Invitational, it was evident Esper made crucial errors while under pressure. The consequences of mistakes are more evident on a Mercy than on many other Heroes, but that additional responsibility separates the good from the great, and Luminosity Gaming apparently do not want to settle for anything less than great.

No mercy given Picture credit: Overwatch

Playing Mercy in the current Overwatch meta is not a simple task. The Resurrect ultimate can be the most powerful in the game when used effectively, and has the power to change team-fights, rounds, and maps in their team’s favour. During a team-fight, each Mercy is a key target to be eliminated, and how the supports position themselves has a great effect. Every Mercy at the top level is required to play around this fact of the game, and during key matches against elite teams, Esper was not able to find the same avenues his opposing supports were and frequently got shut down without being able to co-ordinate his ultimate.

The official statement from LG's manager Shayed states:

[The] team believes that a roster change is currently the best choice. This means that Esper, LG Mercy player, will no longer be competing with the rest of the team. We all wish him the absolute best moving forward, and hope he can find a new team to call home.

Esper, despite being cut from LG for performance issues, remains one of the better Mercy players in North America. It will be interesting to see from here who Luminosity Gaming find to replace him on support, and where Esper ends up. The onus is now on Luminosity Gaming to prove that there are better candidates around and perform to an even higher standard.

Luminosity Gaming’s (incomplete) roster is now:

Brandon "Seagull" Larned (DPS)
Daniel "Gods” Graeser (DPS)
Carl “enigma” Yangsheng (flex)
Yomar “milo” Toledo (tank)
Mark "Pookz" Rendon (support)

Not all too surprising - I honestly was more shocked that Pookz wasn't cut as well. In most of the other top teams, it seems that the non-mercy support is able to play non-support heroes at a high level essentially adding another top-tier dps player to their roster. LG seems to be missing out on that opportunity. I'm sure Pookz must be playing well within the team and making good plays since he wasn't cut.

Should be interesting to see who they replace Esper with - from TF2 Indust, Pyyyour, Shade and Harbleu come to mind although not sure if Pyyyour or Harbleu will want to leave their current teams to join. Best of luck to LG in their search! Hopefully this is the missing piece to put them over the top.