RiFT leaves 26 Rising after rough start to season

Detroit-based esports organization 26 Rising have seen another change in their ranks as Lane "RiFT" Hardesty announced his departure from the team on February 4th. RiFT's departure from 26 Rising is the third such change to a roster that only formed in December but has been plagued by poor results and frequent role changes.

After missing ESEA Advanced playoffs last season with a 7-5 record, the team are now 2-5 in ESEA Advanced Season 48. They are set to be relegated into Main unless they can turn around their fortunes in the final seven matches of the season. Part of 26 Rising's woes has been their inability to settle on a permanent roster, with John "arcade" Rogel, Kaitlin "Keiti" Boop, and James "JAM" H. all taking a crack as stand-ins this season.

The instability in the roster was a key factor in RiFT leaving, as he explained in a comment to Dust2.us, stating that despite changing pieces on the team and himself changing roles multiple times, the team has failed to find results, leading to him stepping away from the team.

With RiFT leaving the team, 26 Rising are currently:

• Talen "Talen" M.

• Luke "BeanieHut" Doorn

• Juliana "Juli" Tosic

26 Rising will need to straighten out their roster before their next match against Lobotomy on February 8th at 09:00PM.