Two weeks ago, after an unsuccessful run in OGN APEX Season 4, ROX Orcas announced the release of the roster, with the players going their own separate ways.
The team's history dates all the back to the beginning of 2017, when they were first known as Motiondive, and spent most of their time competing in APEX Challengers. In APEX Challengers Season 4, they placed 4th and gained automatic qualification to APEX Season 4 thanks to changes made by OGN.
During the transition to APEX, TyDolla and Melee left, with the former moving to Afreeca Freecs. The team then bold-printed their name into the headlines when they signed former EHOME Spear player Geguri, who’s well regarded for her offtank play.
The team was drawn in Group C with Afreeca Freecs, GC Busan, and LuxuryWatch Red. Their first offline match came at the defeat from the Season 3 bronze medalists, though it was expected given it was their very first offline match. They struggled however against the other two Challengers teams. Despite fighting closely on Control Point maps, they ultimately fell and placed last in their group.
We are here to announce a very unfortunate decision. We decided to terminate all contracts of coach and players this season.
The organization had a long discussion with the players regarding the management and future of individuals since before Season 4. After considering that we cannot neglect the hard work of the members who strived to get to the APEX Main Stage from Challengers for one year it was decided that the official announcement would be made after ending Season 4.
We sincerely thank all the coaches and players who worked hard from Challengers to APEX, and of course, the fans who cheered for us until late hours including the ones that sent us gifts. Even if the contract has been terminated with Rox, it was decided after careful consideration for the players’ development and their future chances.
Please cheer for the players as they keep challenging times ahead and grow up from the experience. We will announce further information about our rebuilding and future plans on a later date. Thank you once again, to all Rox fans who cheered for us until today.
With the team now dissolved, it’s currently unknown what this will mean for Super Week as there might be only seven teams competing in the promotion tournament instead of the usual eight.
The ROX Orcas' pod was:
- Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo (DPS)
- Cha "Le1gend" Kwang-ho (Tank)
- Nam "Cr0ng" Ki-cheol (Tank)
- Kim "NineK" Beom-hoon (Flex)
- Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon (Flex)
- Go "Aid" Jae-yoon (Support)
- Kang "Try" Tae-wook (Support)