ATK's Fadey set to miss EPL Conference

Dust2.us has learned from ATK that one of their key South African pieces, Rhys "Fadey" Armstrong, is set to miss the start of the year, including the ESL Pro League Season 17 NA Conference due to an upcoming surgery. This surgery will require the 24-year-old player to return to South Africa for the time being, leaving ATK short-handed at a crucial time.

Fortunately for ATK, their former teammate, Ian "motm" Hardy has offered to stand-in for the team and will be playing until Fadey can return to North America. The start of 2023 is a crucial time for ATK as they look to qualify for ESL Pro League Season 17, a massive opportunity for the lineup. Additionally, the beginning of ESL Challenger Season 44 and the open qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major are right around the corner.

ATK originally parted ways with motm on November 23rd before quickly replacing him with former EG White player Jonathan "djay" Dallal. At the time motm commented that the decision blindsided him and he was understandibly dissatisfied with the change. As such, it is admirable motm is willing to help our his former comrades on such short notice.

With motm standing in, ATK are:

• Michael "Swisher" Schmid

• Gareth "MisteM" Ries

• Jonathan "b0denmaster" Bodenmalm

• Jonathan "djay" Dallal

• Ian "motm" Hardy (Stand-in)

• Rhys "Fadey" Armstrong (Inactive)

• Daniel "sprayxd" Kogan (Coach)

ATK's first outing of 2023 will be in the ESL Pro League Season 17 NA Conference on January 19th. In the qualifier, the team can book a direct ticket to EPL S17 as the highest seed by besting the winner of MIBR vs. Nouns in the upper bracket.