North American Esports Organizations Merge and Sign New Team
Two North American esports organizations in the League Challenger Series are joining forces to create one organization.
Imagine and Odyssey are now known as “Team Imagine,” and they have already made a big move by signing the North American Dota 2 squad Team Leviathan.
With this merger, Martin “Cerebral” Shkreli, the owner of Odyssey, will become the chairman of the company. Gerard “BM” Kelly and Michael “Devilian” Roschenwimmer, owners of Imagine, will become the CEO and managing director, respectively.
The team is now in search of a League Championship Series caliber coach, as their current coach Rohit “Curryshot” Nathani has assumed the role of general manager.
Shkreli believes that leveraging their mutual strengths will benefit esports and its players. Imagine CEO Kelly is excited about the growth opportunities that will come from this partnership.
The team has plans to expand into Rocket League and Hearthstone, and they are currently scouting for talent in these games.
Imagine’s League of Legends lineup will remain unchanged, while Odyssey’s team will disband. The Team Imagine League of Legends squad took third place in the 2015 Summer Challenger Series Regular Season and will face Cloud9 Tempest for third place in the playoffs.
Imagine’s new Dota 2 squad has been a part of the North American Dota scene since 2014 and recently secured their first sponsorship since leaving Flipsid3 Tactics in 2014.
All three owners, Kelly, Roschenwimmer, and Shkreli, are newcomers to the esports industry. Their merger was made possible by loaning out Nathani and two other players to Imagine.