Sun sets on Morning Light as team disbands
A very public controversy over a Malicious Activity ban on Dylan "RIKO" Sabin-Arnce's alt account has escalated into Morning Light being the latest casualty in the team purge that we've seen throughout ESEA MDL Season 34.
RIKO maintains that he has been banned unjustly, though acknowledges that he was in fact queued for multiple games with someone who was later found to be cheating. RIKO asserts that he was only queued in a stack with the cheater because of a mutual friend and that he was neither friends with the cheater nor was he aware that the player was cheating.
He claims that ESEA has no evidence to back up the ban that they have enacted, which would be just the second ban on either of RIKO's accounts. The only other ban was a three-day community conduct ban back in 2017.
As if that wasn't damning enough for the roster, Ian "tex" Botsch will be making the switch to VALORANT in light of his team's current situation, citing the "current landscape of CS" as a determining factor.
Morning Light had only managed to beat Keep the Comms Up and Polar Ace in Season 34 and were in the thick of a fight to avoid being sent to relegation. They had six games remaining against oNe, Chaos, Mythic, AA, Buffdaddy's Paypal Team, and blood, sweat, and tears. Of those matches, only the latter three were against teams that aren't currently in playoff position.
Morning Light are now the sixth MDL-caliber team to disband during Season 34, joining the ranks of Swole Identity, Way 2 French, Polar Ace, Big Frames, and Bad News Bears.
Morning Light were:
Ian "tex" Botsch- Dylan "RIKO" Sabin-Arnce
- Ethan "reck" Serrano
- Collin "wrath" McSweegan
- Jordan "jitter" Ruggiero
This was the first venture into CS:GO for the Washington D.C.-based organization.
