Multiple Players Have Been Released by the Los Angeles Gladiators

Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

The Los Angeles Gladiators have released three players from their Overwatch League roster.

Main tank Luis ‘iRemiix’ Galarza Figuero and DPS players Choi ‘Asher’ Jun-sung and Ted ‘Silkthread’ Wang will not return for the Gladiators in Season Two of the league.

In addition to the players that the Gladiators haven’t re-signed for Season Two, it was previously announced that they have traded main tank Baek ‘Fissure’ Chan-hyung to the Seoul Dynasty. With four players departing the team, the Gladiators look set for a fairly significant overhaul.

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Silkthread released a statement after being released from the team, thanking the Gladiators for their support during the time he was with them.

Hey everyone!

As of today, I will not be continuing my path in Overwatch with the Los Angeles Gladiators. I wanted to write something to express both my thanks to the Gladiators as an organization and the people who supported me during my time on the team. It was an amazing ride, from day one to now.

The amount of good experiences and memories I’ve accumulated since first joining with the Gladiators is literally too many to count. Everyone treated me like a member of the family as soon as I stepped inside the house. Seriously, what a heartwarming atmosphere. The players treated me with respect, the staff made sure I felt like I was at home, and the coaches helped integrate me into the team both in-game and out. For all of this, I really can’t be more grateful. Furthermore, the amount of fan support I’ve gotten while I’ve been on Gladiators has been absolutely incredible. I am honestly baffled with how much love I received, not just while I was playing on stage, but even when I would just be casually livestreaming at stupidly late hours like 2 AM in the morning. You guys seriously made me feel so proud to represent LA.

Moving forward for me personally, I am incredibly motivated and excited for the future. Now that it’s been a couple months since my offseason started and I’ve had ample time to visit family and old friends (and most importantly, relax!), it’s time for me to start seriously grinding Overwatch to be the very best player I can be. I know for a fact that I didn’t reach my full potential in season one and it’s completely up to me to reach that ceiling I know I can touch. I will prove to everyone how talented I know I am as a player. The emotions I felt after being defeated by the London Spitfire on stage during the playoffs still remain even two months later. I will make sure with all of my capability as a player to never feel that regret again.

Anyways, I wanted to keep this twitlonger as concise and short as possible because my gratefulness to the Gladiators and its fans is immeasurable with just words. Again, thank you so much to everybody! I cannot say these couple of words enough – thank you, thank you, and thank you. I wish Gladiators the best for season two and I’m excited to see how much more they can grow as both an organization and team. I hope to play against you guys in the future and then give huge bear hugs post-match and catch up on everything that’s happened in between.

Farewell LA! Until next time. And to the future – I am ready.

-Ted

With only six players remaining on the roster, the Gladiators will need to add at least two to meet the minimum roster requirements for the second season. At least one of those will undoubtedly be a main tank, a position now vacant at the Gladiators with both Fissure and iRemiix no longer with the team.

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The Gladiators will have until September 9 to finalize any additional trades with existing Overwatch League teams, or call up members of the Gladiators Legion Contenders team to the Overwatch League. From September 9 to October 8, new expansion teams have an exclusive free agent signing window, after which all teams will be able to sign free agents. Teams must have a minimum eight-player roster by December 8.