Armel Sent To The Team Aurora Bench

Filipino star Mid Laner Armel “Armel” Tabios has been moved to Team Aurora’s inactive roster. His replacement is yet to be announced.

In 2023, Armel relocated from Southeast Asia after being invited to play in Team Secret, one of the most legendary organizations in the scene. Unfortunately, the team could barely get any notable results, and his departure from the roster quickly ensued. 

Armel quickly got another shot at playing in a top-tier team in Team Aurora, made up of the former core players in Talon Esports, the best Southeast Asian team. The team had moved organizations, but lost their Mid player, Mikoto, during the process. As a result, the next best option seemed to be Armel.

In November 2023, the roster failed to qualify for ESL One Kuala Lumpur through the Southeast Asian qualifier, losing to the new iteration of Talon Esports, which was not favored to win the series in the slightest. It was a huge sting for the roster since they were expected to ease through the entire qualifier. 

After the new year, Team Aurora finally qualified to their first big event, DreamLeague Season 22, after defeating Team Darleng in the Grand Final. Team Darleng was sort of a “streamer stack,” yet Team Aurora could only win the series 3-2, which was not a great look.

Before DreamLeague, the Aurora boys failed to qualify for ESL One Birmingham, after being knocked out of the qualifier by Execration in 7-8th place. It really was not a good look for such a proven roster like Team Aurora is. 

After being invited to BetBoom DACHA Dubai, Team Aurora flew to Europe for their first S-Tier tournament as a roster. In this 12-team tournament, the Southeast Asian representatives had a devastating Group Stage exit, finishing last place after failing to win a single series in groups. 

In Europe, the team decided to stay until the DreamLeague Season 22 tournament, happening two weeks after the conclusion of BetBoom DACHA. Armel unfortunately had to sit the tournament out to fly back to the Philippines, as his wife was expecting the birth of his child anytime soon. During his absence, the team took in Artem “lorenof” Melnick, a promising Ukrainian Mid Laner to stand-in for the team.

In the middle of the tournament, good news came as the delivery went well, and Armel became a father. However, on the other side of the world, Team Aurora looked much better with lorenof in the team. Since the successful Talon Esports roster only changed one player, it was easy for fans to make quick assumptions that Armel might have been the problem. Additionally, the stand-in was looking like the highest-performing player in the team throughout the event.

Team Aurora had an impeccable 9-5 run in the first Group Stage, taking maps off high-profile teams like Team Spirit, Xtreme Gaming, Team Liquid, Shopify Rebellion and Tundra Esports; their group had some very tough opponents, but they still finished at the top of the group.

After making it to the top eight, Team Aurora found the competition was too tough, as they were up against seven of the best teams in the world. They could not pick up a win in the second Group Stage, but overall, the tournament was a huge success considering they were losing to competition in Southeast Asia. 

A week after the team flew back to regroup, Team Aurora announced on their social networks that Armel had been benched from the team. Will the squad reward lorenof for his amazing performance by signing him to the team permanently, or will they look for another Mid player from Southeast Asia? 

Mikoto’s new team, BLEED Esports, is barely raking in any results. There could be a possibility that Aurora could buy the player from the organization and go back to its roots. 

Header: Team Aurora