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Lunarmetal (first from right), together with his teammates in France (Photo: Lunarmetal)

Lunarmetal (first from right), together with his teammates in France (Photo: Lunarmetal)

Stuck in a hotel room at the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach on his 13th day of his 21-day quarantine, Glen “Lunarmetal” Suryasaputra still gave off a very positive vibe despite the recent situation over his ex-organisation.

The 27-year-old full-time esports pro and captain of the former ex-Giants Gaming squad had just returned from France after competing at the US$3 million prize pool Six Invitational 2021, and was serving out his quarantine period with his teammates in the same hotel.

It was then they found out that he and his team would be dropped from the Giants Gaming roster. The news, which was then revealed publicly the next day on Friday in a Twitter post, meant that his team had to scramble to find an organisation to stay in the Rainbow 6 APAC South League.

That’s because the rules state that a team participating in the tournament has to have a legal entity behind it, and without an organisation, Lunarmetal and his squad could be in danger of being removed. 

Thankfully, Ubisoft, along with their former org, have offered to help, but the bulk of their search still has to be done by the team themselves.

“I think the timing [of them being dropped] was unexpected, but the decision was quite reasonable,” said Lunarmetal.

It’s a strange opinion, given that Lunarmetal’s team was impacted by the decision. That said, to understand why, you need to know how the Rainbow 6 APAC League works.

The Rainbow 6 APAC League is divided into two sections: APAC North and APAC South. Lunarmetal’s squad were the champions of the APAC North, before they were transferred over to APAC South. 

The move, Lunarmetal said, was unexpected, to both players and their former org, which had picked them up because they had plans for the APAC North market. 

APAC South, which now mainly focuses on Southeast Asian teams, was not part of the Giant’s business strategy.

“We were the champions of North last season, we beat a lot of the big organisations, such as C9 and Fnatic. North was seen as the premier league, with powerhouse teams from Japan and Korea. That’s where the sponsors and viewers were. In esports, viewership is king,” explained Lunarmetal.

“When Giants picked us up in early 2020, they already had in mind that we were going to be in APAC North. The plans that they made when they picked us up was with us being in APAC North.”

When Ubisoft moved Giants over to APAC South to create a more competitive environment, viewership numbers grew, and it seemed that the strategy was paying off. 

However, Lunarmetal and his team weren’t happy with how things were turning out, especially with the postponement of the Six Invitational (the equivalent of LoL’s Worlds and Dota 2’s TI) that had been scheduled for February. 

The team eventually finished in the last spots, which was not what they were hoping for.

“We should have definitely not been so affected by SI being postponed, but if you’re in a position like us, where some of us have to do National Service, and trying to squeeze out the time we have left to practice and do our best, having the event postponed or cancelled, and then having to be moved to APAC South, which was a surprise to all of us — it really affected our motivation,” said Lunarmetal.

Despite the setback, Lunarmetal, his team, as well as their coach, have not given up on each other. Lunarmetal told Yahoo Esports that they plan to continue on together.

“We are reaching out to a lot of orgs, and we are liaising with Ubisoft to find a new home. Because Giants pulled out of their own accord, the licensing [to compete] still remains with us,” said Lunarmetal.

“I don’t think we are at a risk of losing our slot at APAC South. It’s just a matter for us to find an org to represent. Ubisoft has also explained to us about some contingency plans we can do if we can’t find an org.”

Aloysius Low is an ex-CNET editor with more than 15 years of experience. He’s really into cats and is currently reviewing products at canbuyornot.com

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEAand check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page.

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