Carolina Royal Ravens Disqualified from Esports World Cup

The Carolina Royal Ravens have been disqualified from the Esports World Cup after failing to comply with the tournament’s roster restrictions.

Following the expiration of contracts for Thomas "TJHaLy" Haly and Isaiah "Gwinn" Gwinn, the Royal Ravens were left with just two players from their original starting roster. Both players had signed during the offseason after Modern Warfare 2, prior to the Esports World Cup being announced as a post-CDL Champs tournament. As a result, their contracts—like many across the league—were set to expire following Champs, consistent with previous seasons.

TJHaLy and Gwinn each chose to join new teams instead of playing the final tournament with Carolina, with TJHaLy heading to the Vegas Falcons & Gwinn signing with Cloud9 New York.

According to EWC rules, teams are permitted to make only one roster change heading into the tournament, offering minimal flexibility. However, the Ravens attempted to sign three new players—Marcus "Afro" Reid, Felix "FDot" Mckee, and Enzo "Cobra" Mekentichi—which violated the rule and led to all changes being rejected. As it stands, the team is officially unable to compete in the Esports World Cup.

📸 Photo by @P3ngu7n

With their disqualification, the door opens for another Challenger's team to take their place. The expected replacement is FireFears, whose current roster includes Luis "Fire" Rivera, Charlie "Hicksy" Hicks, and Kaden "Exceed" Stockdale. Previously, Abe was a member of the team before being signed by the Toronto Ultra. To remain eligible, FireFears will need to add an additional Challenger's player with over 48,000 Pro Points to outscore a competing organization, the Royal Spartans.

Both FireFears and the Royal Spartans finished in the Top 6 at the Challengers Finals. As a result, the team with the higher combined Pro Point total will secure the final spot in Group Play. To fill Abe’s spot, FireFears is currently targeting Kenyen "Capsidal" Sutton.