One of the biggest Oceanic esports organisations, The Chiefs Esports Club (ESC), has signed the Australian roster of Elevate midway through Stage 1 of the 2021 APAC South season, excluding the substitute of Joseph "Milostka" Kaleske.
Chiefs ESC are a well-established organisation in the region, fielding teams in Counter-Strike, Rocket League, Fortnite, Street Fighter V, and, most notably, League of Legends (LoL).
The Chiefs are perhaps most notable in LoL, with a team first in the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) and now in the LoL Circuit Oceania (LCO). In the OPL, The Chiefs had won the first four splits in a row, dominating in 2015 and 2016, while second in four other splits, and third in three.
Its Rocket League team also finished in the top-four at the RLCS World Championship in 2017.
To know more, SiegeGG spoke to Josh Harvey, from The Chiefs' management:
Congratulations on joining us here in Siege esports! What made you considering signing a roster in Rainbow Six and one in ANZ?
What made you settle on this roster and what are your expectations of it?
Was this an expensive buyout or something reasonable at this time, especially given the situation with COVID-19 having a big financial impact all around?
What kind of support will you be offering your new roster, especially being a local organisation?
The Chiefs' entry marks only the second Australian organisation in APAC South, with ORDER being the only other such organisation and both having Australian rosters.
The newly-signed Chiefs Rainbow Six roster had been playing in Stage 1 of the 2021 APAC South season and the Oceanic Nationals under Elevate.
Image: ElevateGG
The American organisation had signed the Australian roster just a year prior, but has now accepted a buyout offer from The Chiefs.
While playing well in the Nationals, currently third with nine points from five games, the roster is currently second-from-bottom in APAC South, ahead of ORDER. However, Elevate had finished second in ANZ in Season 11 of the ESL Pro League in 2020 and second in the REKT Omen Gauntlet earlier this year.
The Chiefs will thus be hoping their signing helps their roster achieve its former Pro League glory once more, now with added support from a home-grown organisation.
Catch this new roster in action later today, as it takes on the struggling Wildcard Gaming in APAC South in what could be its first regular-time victory this season.