Eliminations have begun at the ALGS Championship, and one Apex Legends team, Aurora, is facing a significant disadvantage. Despite initially playing with a full team in the group stage, they have decided to continue as a duo for the rest of the event, without their emergency substitute player, Jose “Uxako” Llosa. This decision comes after player disagreements and could potentially be their final games of the 2023 season.
Aurora encountered visa issues prior to the Championship, resulting in two of their starting players, Kiryl “9impulse” Kostsiu and Lev “taskmast33r” Grigoriev, being unable to participate. The team was allowed to sign two emergency substitute players, Uxako and Keenan “Tax” Mackey, to fill in for them. However, 9impulse managed to obtain his visa in time and rejoined the starting lineup alongside ojrein and Uxako.
Unfortunately, Aurora struggled in the group stage, finishing 33rd out of 40 teams. This placed them in losers bracket round one, where they faced elimination. In an attempt to improve their performance, Aurora wanted to substitute Tax for Uxako. However, according to the ALGS Rulebook, this substitution was not allowed as Uxako was registered as a starting player and Tax as the emergency substitute. The team’s request was denied, and they were forced to stick with their original roster.
Uxako revealed additional details about the team’s decision-making process, including an attempt to bypass the substitution rule by asking him to fake sickness. This would have qualified as an emergency, allowing Tax to take his place. Uxako refused to go along with this plan, leading to his decision to step back and spectate the games instead of playing.
Currently, Aurora is fighting for their tournament lives in losers bracket round one. As the only team competing as a duo in the entire tournament, they face an uphill battle to survive and advance to the next round.
Update: 9impulse Provides Insight into the Situation
In an update, 9impulse shared his perspective on the situation, shedding light on communication issues within the team. He explained that language barriers, particularly his limited English proficiency, contributed to the difficulties. Additionally, the team needed a Bloodhound player, a character Uxako was not familiar with, which further complicated matters.
9impulse shared screenshots of their discussions after realizing they couldn’t play with Tax, showing attempts to reconcile with Uxako. They even suggested the idea of feigning sickness to avoid playing as a duo if Uxako didn’t want to rejoin the team. While this suggestion still aimed to circumvent the rules, 9impulse’s claims and evidence suggest that the team initially tried to resolve the issues and play with Uxako before considering alternative options.
It’s important to note that none of the players are native English speakers, with ojrein from Russia, 9impulse from Belarus, and Uxako from Spain. This language barrier may have contributed to misunderstandings during their discussions.
Aurora ultimately finished the ALGS Championship as a duo, being eliminated in the first round of losers bracket play and securing a 36th place overall finish in the tournament.
Source: DOTESPORTS
