While the
Esports Nations Cup has been making headlines in recent days, especially with
Sheep Esports reporting on the coaches and players selected to participate, this time it’s the confirmed refusal of a player that is drawing attention. As mentioned in
a Reddit thread on Friday, sources familiar with the situation confirm that
declined to play for the Slovenian roster for personal reasons.
Nemesis and Crownie also declined
As AD Carry
shared on stream in a now-deleted clip, stating that if neither Mikyx nor
, both LEC-level players, were going to participate, then he wouldn’t either, as he wouldn’t want to compete without the best possible conditions. Both players, who have both been playing together for over a year with
and
, will not participate.
When asked by Sheep Esports, people familiar with the situation cited multiple reasons that led to Nemesis and Crownie's withdrawal, including unelaborated personal reasons and the roster's weakened state following Mikyx's decision to pull out.
The inaugural ENC will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation. While this first edition is hosted in the Foundation's home country, future editions are set to rotate across host cities around the world,
as described on their website.
Final rosters have yet to be submitted, and while a last-minute change of mind is never entirely out of the question, Slovenia looks set to commit to a roster composed entirely of Tier 2 or Tier 3 players, or lower, by the end of the month.
What is the Esports Nations Cup?
Scheduled from November 2 to 29 for its first edition in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the nation-based competition, the largest in esports history, is expected to bring together thousands of players from around a hundred countries, competing across nearly 16 games. Alongside the League of Legends tournament, set to take place from November 21 to 29, there will also be nation-based competitions in VALORANT, Counter-Strike, Rocket League, and Rainbow Six: Siege. For Riot Games’ MOBA title, exactly 32 teams, each representing a nation, will compete on site.
Before that, the participants still need to be decided. The Esports Foundation, which oversees the ENC and the Esports World Cup (two separate events), has decided that 16 teams out of the 32 will qualify directly for the final tournament, based on the results of their representatives in Riot Games’ official competitive circuits. The other participants will have to go through seven regional qualifiers, each offering two spots. The remaining two slots will reportedly be allocated by the ENC in the form of wildcards, likely at the discretion of the event organizers.
Slovenia, especially without its LEC-level players, is now guarenteed to have to compete through the qualifiers.
