Fissure benched before OWL playoffs

Shortly before the Los Angeles Gladiators’ first playoff game against the London Spitfire, the Gladiators announced that they would not be starting Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek.

https://twitter.com/LAGladiators/status/1017211806673014785

There has been some controversy regarding the reason behind Fissure’s benching. The official statement, while vague, doesn’t directly imply any issues within the team’s ranks.

Journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau reported that Fissure was unhappy with the team’s performance in scrimmages, so the Gladiators chose to play Luis “iRemiix” Galarza Figueroa instead.

https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1017223870628102144

Shortly after the rumors began swirling, Fissure took to his stream to defend himself. The VOD of his stream has since been deleted, but Twitter user Robin311 translated and summarized Fissure’s words.

https://twitter.com/tisrobin311/status/1017277343285456896

Fissure describes Bresleau’s tweets as “bullshit.” He didn’t comment on his preference for playing on a team that used English as a primary language, but he did tell the Gladiators to replace him with an English-speaking player rather than try to find teammates who speak Korean.

Fissure went on to confirm that iRemiix would likely be playing in all future playoff games for the Gladiators, given that he was the best choice for the current meta, and that he wished the team the best moving forward.

On Twitter after his stream, Fissure further clarified that the team was just doing its best to win, and that everything from Bresleau was speculative.

https://twitter.com/Fissure/status/1017284739143647232

https://twitter.com/Fissure/status/1017447497990471680

With no further official comment by the Gladiators, the future of Fissure with the team is murky. Teams often change their rosters to fit the strengths of players in different metas, but it is surprising that MVP candidate Fissure would be replaced so suddenly and with little explanation.