Fissure Expands On His Absence from LA Gladiators in Response to Fan Backlash

Los Angeles Gladiators main tank Baek ‘Fissure’ Chan-hyung has expanded on his absence during the Overwatch League playoffs.

Fissure’s latest statements on the matter, which come in the wake of fan backlash over his absence during the team’s most important match of the season – which the Gladiators ultimately lost – reveal that he had been told he would not be played for the entirety of the playoffs.

The saga began when it was announced that Fissure, Gladiators’ star player, would not be starting for the first series of their quarter-final match against the Los Angeles Gladiators. A fairly vague statement from the Gladiators subsequently insinuated that this decision had been to do with motivation issues on Fissure’s side.

It was then reported by Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau that the issues had stemmed from Fissure’s frustrations with his team-mates, that he had stated he would prefer to play for an all-Korean team and was considering a move for season two, possibly to the Seoul Dynasty.

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Fissure responded by stating that while he had only ever said that he felt a unified language was superior for a team, and that his absence was purely a result of substitute main tank ‘iRemiix’ having been a better fit in the current meta.

Further controversy arose, however, when Fissure was absent from the arena for the second day of the Gladiators’ quarter-final match, on which they were thoroughly swept aside by the Spitfire in consecutive 0-3 defeats, losing the match 1-2 and being eliminated from the playoffs.

Fissure himself was the subject of much criticism from Los Angeles Gladiators fans, some of whom seemed to feel that he had abandoned the team when they needed him most.

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In his latest series of tweets addressing the issue, however, Fissure states that he can no longer deal with the abuse he’s receiving, revealing screenshots that show him being told that he would not compete in the playoffs and he was no longer needed at team practice.

These latest revelations shift the focus firmly back onto the Los Angeles Gladiators, whose apparent decision to discard Fissure for the playoffs may well have cost them a place in the semi-finals – at least in the eyes of many fans.

The Gladiators have been largely silent on the matter, with neither organization nor fellow players commenting beyond the team’s original statement.