European Marksman Steeelback to Play with North American Challenger Side Imagine
Pierre “Steeelback” Medjaldi, a prominent European marksman, is scheduled to play with the North American Challenger team Imagine on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a report by the Daily Dot.
Due to passport and visa complications, both the starting and substitute AD carries of Imagine, Ritchie “Intense” Ngo and Cody “Massacre” Sun, were unable to practice in the team house this week. As a resolution, Odyssey, the team owned by pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, has loaned Medjaldi to Imagine.
Imagine owner Gerard Kelly explained the situation, stating, “When we found out Massacre [Sun] was a Chinese citizen living in Canada rather than a Canadian citizen, we realized there was a probable chance that we would be unable to get him here before the playoffs so we started looking at contingencies.”
Medjaldi, who previously played for Fnatic, a top European team, won the 2015 Spring European League of Legends Championship Series title. However, he was later dropped from the team in favor of Martin “Rekkles” Larsson. Gambit Gaming had initially wanted to give Medjaldi a tryout, but signed someone else when they saw he was available.
Medjaldi then joined a Ranked 5’s squad called Turing B, which later became Odyssey. The team, made up of former Team Fusion players and North America’s top Challenger talents, aimed to qualify for the Challenger Series but unfortunately fell short against Cloud9 Tempest in the second round.
Upcoming Games and Broadcast Information
Medjaldi’s first games with Imagine are scheduled for July 14-15 against Cloud9 Tempest, the team that knocked them out of the previous Challenger Series. The second game, which will be broadcasted on Riot Games’ Twitch channel, will begin at 11pm ET.
For more esports news and updates, check out our video on today’s Quick Cast news update.
Steeelback, esports, Imagine, Challenger Series, Fnatic, League of Legends, Cloud9 Tempest