Former Fnatic marksman Pierre “Steeelback” Medjaldi will be moving to North America to play for Odyssey Gaming, sources close to the organization tell the Daily Dot.
His new team is formerly known as TuringB on the Ranked 5’s ladder and is owned by pharmaceutical giant CEO Martin Shkreli. That team’s existence was originally reported on by the Daily Dot on May 6 and since has been grinding the ladder to be eligible for the upcoming North American Challenger Series Summer Qualifiers.
The team has submitted their roster to Riot Games for the upcoming qualifiers, with Medjaldi being on the active roster. It was reported that the team had been in negotiations with Zachary “Nien” Malhas and Ritchie “Intense” Ngo; however, Malhas has now decided to join League Championship Series side Team 8. Although, Ngo will be playing with the Odyssey Gaming team until Medjaldi’s arrival.
This news comes after Medjaldi was replaced on his former team, Fnatic. The team were able to recruit Martin “Rekkles” Larsson, previously of Elements. Due to their past relationship with Larsson and his extended amount of time on the Fnatic team, the partnership was rekindled between the two. Unfortunately for Medjaldi, this left him teamless.
But not for long.
Medjaldi played with the Fnatic team at the Riot Games Mid-Season Invitational, taking a third-fourth place in the tournament after a close loss to Korean goliath SKT Telecom T1. Medjaldi, alongside the rest of his team, exceeded expectations for the tournament and demonstrated his will to prove he belongs in the big leagues.
Before he can resurface to the top, Medjaldi has a big task to face should Odyssey make it into the North American Challenger Series. Previously playing with the likes of SK Gaming Prime, Medjaldi is no stranger to amateur competition. This time, however, he’ll be in a new region and will facing off against other competitors.
Odyssey Gaming have yet to respond to a request for comment.
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
