Written by: Jared "trance" Wynne

It was recently announced by the Four Kings organization that their 5th player for the World eSports Games' second season would be none other then the notorious Norwegian all-star, Ola "elemeNt" Moum. The move was made necessary when it was revealed that long-time 4K player Harriman, who dropped out of WEG's first season just before the finals in order to return home, would not be attending WEG season 2 with the rest of the team.

This brings 4K's roster to the following:

Mangiacapra
aKuJi
Goodfella
Red
elemeNt
Harriman

The announcement was officially made by 4K official Hotshot, who had the following to say regarding the pick-up.

"I'm thoroughly delighted to announce Ola "elemeNt" Moum as a new starting member of the 4Kings CS lineup. Ola has consistently proven his abilities at the highest level of competitive gaming and will immediately make his debut at WEG Season 2 in Korea in June."

This also brings up an interesting question regarding elemeNt's leaving #1 ranked NoA. It was a generally accepted notion that elemeNt had left the team due to a disinterest in going back to Korea for another six weeks to compete in WEG season 2, but the fact that elemeNt just signed on with 4K to compete in the same event clearly shows that this could not have been the case. elemeNt gave his reason for accepting the offer to join up with the team on the team's web site.

"4Kings is a top 5 ranked team in the World and as such has potential to achieve success. Having played against them in the previous season of WEG they proved they are more than capable of competing with the best and are now looking to build upon this and progress. It seemed like a natural step for me with the added advantage of a new challenge."


While elemeNt's indication that he is interested in pursuing a new challenge by joining up with 4K might suggest that he was tired of playing for NoA, that theory doesn't seem to hold up as elemeNt seemed notably displeased when his contract with NoA was bought out by Made in Brazil. It was surely not an issue with his teammates that caused the trade either, as method especially was very outspoken about the fact that he did not wish to lose elemeNt as a teammate, and that they were both very good friends, even going so far as to vowing that he and elemeNt would play together again at some point down the road.

All that leaves is NoA's manager, Gary "Siege" Sanchez. If there was any hostility between Siege and elemeNt, it certainly was not made public, as Siege released the following statement after the initial deal with mibr was done.

"We've recently returned from living in Seoul, Korea and visiting Beijing, China after about 2 months - this was the appropriate time to evaluate matters before we head off again to compete in WEG Season 2 (pending the official date announcement). The terms of the trade are confidential between the involved parties, but I'm proud to say that I feel this transaction went as good as it gets - everyone involved is on good terms. elemeNt is a close friend and I feel that this transition is for the greater good; I wish him the best in all he pursues"

As we continue to look through the different possibilities, we have to at least consider the fact that perhaps Siege felt a change needed to be made for the good of the team, performance-wise, but it's very difficult to see why someone would want to make a roster change after a team had placed 1st in two consecutive major international tournaments. Perhaps the greatest possibility is that some members of the NoA organization, no matter who they were or on what level they worked, felt that elemeNt did not have the proper drive or desire at the point that the transaction with mibr was made.

No matter the case, this certainly presents a very interesting situation for us to bear witness to in the coming weeks in Korea. A grudge match between NoA and 4K would certainbly be an interesting prospect now that elemeNt has switched sides.