Team Secret will participate in Elite League, filling in the former slot of Shopify Rebellion.
The upcoming Elite League has just made changes to its team lineup. North America's strongest contender, Shopify Rebellion, was initially invited to join the $1 million dollar tournament. However, the team has withdrawn due to logistics. Shopify Rebellion is officially replaced by Team Secret.
A total of twenty-four teams are currently gearing up for the online Elite League, set to start on March 31. This tournament pits the world's most prominent names including Gaimin Gladiators, OG, Team Spirit, and even Nigma Galaxy.
However, this exciting spectacle will miss North America's biggest name. Shopify Rebellion has withdrawn from the tournament and the vacant slot is filled in by Team Secret, according to the Elite League Liquipedia page. Team Secret's roster remains undisclosed.
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Shopify Rebellion withdraws from Elite League due to logistics
On a Reddit thread, the lead of SR's competitive division, Dario "TLO" Wünsch, revealed the reasons why Shopify Rebellion withdrew from Elite League. The team's schedule is packed with multiple tournaments and qualifiers, namely the DreamLeagues and PGL events. He stated that it would not be feasible to participate in Elite League with such a packed schedule. He also added that getting VISAs on time for their Filipino midlaner, Erin Jasper "Yopaj" Ferrer, was impossible.
"The process for Yopaj to obtain VISAs for all events was impossible due to their timing. (Made more difficult by the UK no longer being part of the EU)," TLO stated.
TLO also added the difficulties of competing for non-European teams. Shopify Rebellion, coming from North America, will have to spend more time on the road and can't compete from home.
"Burnout was another consideration, especially with our players being from many different home regions, people will be on the road a significant amount of the year and we decided to prioritize Dreamleague and LANs for now. Definitely a bit of a disadvantage for non-european teams, as they can play the big online events from home if they choose to, which isn't an option for us. Ultimately it came down to what worked for our team as well as our players' performance and well-being," TLO commented.
Elite League will unfold from March 31 to April 15. This high-profile online tournament will distribute a million dollars ($960,000 to be more specific) to the participants. The winner of the tournament gets a whopping $300,000. Read more about Elite League below!
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