ben1337 joins steel project; team to use wippie in DreamHack Atlanta qualifier
Former Vireo.pro and Party Astronauts member Ben "ben1337" Smith has become the fourth addition to Joshua "steel" Nissan's previously rumoured Chaos roster, with Dust2.us learning that the team also plan to utilize Maxim "wippie" Shepelev as a stand-in during the DreamHack Open Atlanta qualifier this Saturday.
ben1337 joined the team's ESEA roster yesterday afternoon, with the team originally planning to remain under the Singularity moniker. However, following the announcement of Singularity signing the New Identity roster to play in ESL Pro League Season 10 earlier today, the team has opted to instead be called Ben's Anime Team, a name familar to those who have followed ben1337's career.
Recently, ben1337 was announced as one of two additions to the Singularity roster for ECS Season 8, joining up alongside Josh "PwnAlone" Pigue to help the team in their campaigns for the first two weeks of the season. Dust2.us knows that neither ben1337 nor PwnAlone remain tied to the organization, leaving them free to join up with other rosters.
The two ECS Season 8 attempts saw them suffer defeats in the quarterfinals, first against the Evil Geniuses roster and then to Cloud9; however, the matches still offered ben1337 the opportunity to play alongside Gage "Infinite" Green, Cameron "cam" Kern, and Alan "Shakezullah" Hardman prior to linking up with the steel-led roster.
Shakezullah and cam are both required to play in eight out of the first nine games of the MDL season to ensure that the roster retains their spot in the league. The team remains committed to transitioning Shakezullah to a coaching role following their initial matches, continuing to trial players as they search for a permanent addition. The team are primarily in search of an AWPer to complete their ranks, previously targeting former Heroic member Niels-Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen.
The team plans to play with wippie for the DreamHack Open Atlanta qualifier, but Dust2.us knows that plans with the player have not extended past this weekend's outing. While the team intends to give the player a chance to prove his worth in the qualifier, matters are further complicated by the fact that wippie resides in the United States on a student visa, leaving his ability to play for an organization in question.
Ben's Anime Team's roster for the upcoming DreamHack Open Atlanta qualifier will be:
Cameron "cam" Kern
Joshua "steel" Nissan- Gage "Infinite" Green
- Ben "ben1337" Smith
Maxim "wippie" Shepelev (Stand-in)- Alan "Shakezullah" Hardeman (Coach)
Aside from their upcoming weekend foray in the qualifier, Ben's Anime Team are also slated to play their first MDL match tomorrow as they take on Just Swing at 9 PM EDT.
