TSM and Immortals exit NA Challengers scene

After several days when the LCS and Riot announced changes in the NA Challengers League rules, several teams decided to abandon the ship, and TSM and Immortals are among them.

As a reminder, the official statement from the LCS pointed out that now teams should not be obliged to have a team in the Challengers division of the LCS. As a result, organizations that have some problems of a financial nature have started to drop their teams from the NACL.

There is no doubt that this is a hard blow, especially for those players who felt that the Challengers League was a stepping stone to the LCS. Many players will be left without teams and must impress organizations in other ways.

TSM and Immortals leave the NACL

Last Friday, TSM announced that, following the official announcement by Riot and the LCS, they would completely disassociate themselves from their team in the Challengers division of League of Legends. In the last hours, it became known that Immortals was the second team to get off the NACL ship.

This change in NACL regulations has surprised many in the competitive scene, especially the LCSPA and the LCS Players Association. According to the LCSPA, both the LCS and Riot Games promised that there would be no changes until before the start of the upcoming season.

As a result, the LCSPA released a statement asking the fans and the organizations themselves for support to reverse this move to keep the NACL alive.

However, this is unlikely to happen, as all ten teams that make up the LCS voted in favor of the rule change.

As mentioned, TSM decided to eliminate the NACL squad last Friday after Riot announced and the LCS was released. In addition, we should remember that TSM’s Challengers team played without support from the organization in the Spring Split, i.e., the guys only used the organization’s name but did not receive anything in return.

Immortals does not announce their exit from the Challengers scene

While it is true that Immortals did not make any official announcement to disengage with its entire Challengers squad, two of its players, Michael “Wixxi” Fernandez and Kadir “Fleshy” Kemiksiz, posted on their Twitter accounts that they are now free agents.

Now, with this news of TSM and Immortals leaving, it is very likely that other organizations will do the same in the coming hours. In addition, it has been rumored that only three organizations would keep their Challenger squads in the Summer Split.

With this, a rumor on social networks about a probable strike of LCS players gains much more strength. However, while it is true that this is an option being seriously considered, from the LCSPA, they believe it would not be as easy as many might believe.

As we know, the LCSPA is not a players’ union, so legally they have no protection when it comes to withholding their labor during a negotiation. In addition, LCS players, most of whom are in their 20s, will not want to risk losing their jobs and large salaries by supporting this “strike.”

While it is highly unlikely that there will be any retaliation by the organizations, Riot Games, or the LCS toward the players, there is no doubt that it is an unnecessary risk for many.

Header: NACL