Meta Gaming’s sister teams had a disappointing performance in OGN APEX Season 4. The inclusion of coach Vol’Jin and roster changes before Season 4 promised a hopeful venture for Athena and Bellum, but they came out empty handed after finishing in the bottom halves of their respective round robin groups. After adding coach r2der last month for Athena, the org has given the green light for a massive shuffle within both teams.
안녕하세요 Meta Gaming 감독 강 민규입니다.
— The Meta (@TheMetaGaming) October 4, 2017
메타 양팀 모두 8명의 인원을 선발하여 최종 로스터를 선정하였습니다.
두팀모두 8번째 멤버의 경우에는 추후에 따로 공지할예정입니다.
언제나 저희팀을 응원해주시는 여러분 감사합니다! pic.twitter.com/bj3xRAyIXy
The shuffle’s biggest blow was dealt to the Athena squadron; Libero, who's widely regarded as the team’s Swiss army knife, has left to pursue offers for the Overwatch League. Hoon and Hyeonu on their end have been demoted down to the Bellum squadron, with the latter having just joined from wNv.KR during the Season 4 preseason.
Joining Athena in the trios place are a mix of Meta’s own players and free agents. Hexa and SanSam from Bellum have earned promotions up to Athena, and former LW Red duo aWesomeGuy and NoName round out the roster with their recruitment.
Alongside the additions of Hoon and Hyeonu from Athena, Bellum’s roster has also been finalized with Na1st. Bellum will be Na1st’s very first team as he prepares for the next season.
Athena were widely regarded for their tactical prowess in APEX Season 2, but the rise and stagnation of the dive meta has seen them continuously slumping. Bellum on the other end came straight from APEX Challengers Season 4 to the main stage, but failed to scratch the surface this season.
Athena is scheduled to play in Super Week, APEX’s promotion and relegation tournament, for a spot in APEX Season 5. But the APEX scene could see changes in the coming months; Lunatic-Hai, Cloud9 Kongdoo, and LuxuryWatch Blue are all leaving APEX for the Overwatch League as the Seoul, London, and (reportedly) New York franchises respectively. Meanwhile, teams such as ROX Orcas and CONBOX have recently disbanded, potentially leaving up to five vacated team slots in APEX (and possibly more in the near future). OGN might cancel Super Week and permit automatic qualification again for the top placed APEX Challengers Season 5 teams into APEX Season 5, just like last season.
Meta's Athena's revamped roster is:
- Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo (DPS)
- Kim "aWesomeGuy" Seong-hun (Tank)
- Oh "Rio" Seung-pyo (Tank)
- Jung "Hexa" Sung-yoon (Flex)
- Lee "NoName" Won-jae (Flex)
- Kim "SanSam" Hyang-ki (Flex)
- Choi "Kris" Jun-soo (Support)
- Kang "Vol'Jin" Min-gyu (Coach)
- Choi "r2der" Hyun-jin (Coach)
The Meta Bellum roster is:
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