XDG owner confirms players available for transfer, team will continue in challenger

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

The XDG starting lineup consisting of Jake 'Xmithie' Puchero, Jamie 'Sheep' Gallagher, Zachary 'mandatorycloud' Hoschar, and Christopher 'Zuna' Beuchter will not continue as a number of players have requested a chance to play on a LCS team if possible, XDG owner Marshall Uy Alexander confirmed to onGamers. Last week top lane Benny 'Benny' Hung confirmed his retirement after the team failed to qualify into LCS with a loss to China's LMQ in the Summer Promotion.

Marshall Alexander confirmed that he is in talks with other teams to buyout or trade for his players contracts, but would not specify which teams. Alexander says he's trying to do right by his players looking to continue playing in the LCS.

"A number of players wanted a chance to be on an active LCS team if at all possible, and I'm not going to hold them hostage by their contracts," he said. "The XDG challenger team would certainly be stronger with my proven LCS caliber players, but I'll trade them to another team if it will give them a chance to continue to live their LCS dreams."

Alexander confirmed that XDG will continue to play in the Challenger league, with the roster to be determined after handling his current set of players. He would not comment on the likelihood of players staying on the challenger team, but said it was a possibility. The team house will be shut down until establishing themselves back into the LCS.

XDG, formerly Vulcun, has seen the high's and low's of the current LCS system. After finishing third at the Season 3 Summer Playoffs, they earned themselves a spot at the World Championships as one of three North American representatives. One split later, they are out of the LCS once again.

"There is definitely something to be said about the volatility of things and how there isn't much room for mistakes given that an LCS split goes by so quick," said Alexander. "There's the added complication of a semi-pro team in the challenger scene, which I would hope Riot does something to address going forward so that the League scene doesn't go the way of Starcraft."

"in general, a team is definitely put in a tough position in terms of putting the desires of the players or the best interest of the organization first. I'm erring on the side of doing right by the players in basically any decision that comes up. But it definitely puts the organization in a trickier spot with rebuilding."