NRG Esports are down a man today after support main Alex “Ajax” Jackson announced he will be stepping down from the team’s active Overwatch roster.
Ajax found some decent success towards the end of 2016 and early 2017, with upstart teams Kingdom Esports, Kungarna, and finally Ghost Esports, who placed second at the Overwatch Winter Premiere in January. After that, he joined NRG Esports along with Anthony “Harbleu” Ballo on March 16.
Despite a lot of hype and excitement surrounding the new star-studded NRG roster, which also featured popular livestreamer Brandon “Seagull” Larned, NRG soon failed to match expectations. Seagull recently stepped down from the roster to focus on streaming before the new iteration of the team had even competed.
“I wish my teammates the best of luck, but when I get back in the scene NRG is the team I target first to beat,” Ajax told Dot Esports.
This current NRG lineup’s first tournament together was April’s Overwatch Monthly Melee, and the team struggled mightily while finishing 5th-6th. Next up was the Overwatch Rumble, and they fell even further in placements, dropping to 13th-16th. The final straw was CyberPower’s Spring Invitational earlier in May, where the team placed 5th-8th.
“I’ve come back from worse, boys,” Ajax added on Twitter. “I don’t stop fighting, and I’m going to hold a trophy.”
NRG did not respond to Dot Esports’ request for comment.
