After replacing Newbee in the Excellent Moscow Cup #2's LAN Finals, LGD Gaming have also withdrawn from the tournament, citing a personal issue from Sylar as the cause. Team Empire on the other hand has announced that they will be using SoNNeikO as a stand-in for Mag.
LGD Gaming have officially withdrawn from the Excellent Moscow Cup #2's LAN Finals, following this announcement from their official Tencent Weibo page:
Which can be translated into: "We are very sorry to inform you that due to team member Sylar's mother being hospitalized, he will be unable to attend the EMC's LAN Finals on Sept. 26-27. So, after careful consideration, our team, LGD Gaming, will reluctantly have to give up the opportunity to participate in the event. We would like to apologize to the event's organizers, as well as our fans. We hope you guys understand - let us all wish Sylar's mother a speedy recovery."
LGD Gaming was officially selected by the EMC's organizers to replace TI4 Champions Newbee, after the latter also withdrew from the tournament, citing a lost passport from one of its players as the reason.
The tournament organizers confirmed GosuGamers that HellRaisers will be the official replacement for LGD-Gaming.
Additionally, Team Empire announced on their Twitter account that they will call upon the services of Cleave Gaming's SoNNeikO to replace their offlaner Andrew 'MAg-' Chipenko in the event's LAN Finals. A reason for Mag's absence has not been stated yet.
Also, PimpmuckL will be unable to attend the event personally due to visa issues. He will, however, continue to cast the tournament's matches from home.
All these issues have not prevented the $74,000+ prizepool event from kicking off, as the other qualified teams Natus Vincere, VP Polar, and Empire prepare to face off at the Forum Hall in Moscow on Sept. 26-27. The match-ups will be drawn live at the event the and the format will be a double elimination bracket with bo3 matches all around.
