WICKED's future uncertain as RiFT, zeep step down
On June 3rd, Lane "RiFT" Hardesty and Ian "zeep" Lineaweaver stepped down from Austin "Austin" Meadows' WICKED, leaving the future of the stream team uncertain. The duo's departure from WICKED came after the team exited ESEA Advanced Season 49 playoffs following a forfeit loss to Akimbo due to the majority of the team being at IEM Dallas 2024 as fans.
WICKED managed to find their way into ESEA Advanced playoffs following an 8-6 regular season, securing the team the 24th and final spot in the playoffs bracket. While their run came to an uneventful end, it was overall a successful season following the team's promotion from ESEA Main last season.
Despite this modest success, RiFT and zeep both elected to leave to pursue individual offers, while Austin "Austin" Meadows himself told Dust2.us that he is also exploring his options for the future. As such, the team is currently in a position where the majority of the players are looking for new squads in the off-season, while Austin and zeep tell Dust2.us that they don't rule out playing under the WICKED tag next season if their team searches fail to bear fruit.
WICKED for the moment consists of:
-
Austin "Austin" Meadows
-
Tommy "corn" Eckhart
-
David "dAVE" Karivalis
WICKED's players will need to decide on their future plans ahead of the start of ESEA Advanced Season 50 which starts on July 14th.