Benched Heroes denied Major qualification chance

Sebastian Lalic
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Illustration by NovaH. Source: Dreamhack / Joao Ferreira

Benched Heroes, Smooya’s mix team that shockingly made it through to the European RMR-tournament, are now shockingly not making it through anyway,

First things first: The mix team has a Russian national on it; Aunkere. Guess what happens when a Russian tries to get a visa to a country in Europe at the moment: Yeah you got it. Access denied.

So the last week has been filled with uncertainty for the mixed EU team; would they be able to use Thomas, their 6th player, as a standin for Aunkere? Smooya did seem to suggest on Monday that he would be able to, but their attendance were still in doubt due to Calyx not receiving his visa either.

And here we are, mere days before the RMR is supposed to begin. Smooya has finally, after(1) some(2) whining(3) sure(4), confirmed the inevitable on Twitter: Calyx didn’t get his visa and Smooya is bonked, yet again.

Aunkere's Visa issues were never a secret. Traveling as a Russian in 2022 is hard enough, but the EU tightening its laws couldn't have helped.

The real issue was not that Calyx can’t get a visa, but rather that he won’t be able to get it on time. According to Smooya: the Turk tried a different agency in an attempt to speed up the application process. But instead of speeding up, they messed it up, allegedly being the sole reason the Benched Heroes won't be playing at the RMR. Which does sound pretty convenient.

Who knows, maybe the agency actually messed up. Or maybe Benched Heroes replacement Iluminar took a page from the book of Paul Pogba and went to the dark arts. Calyx did say this was the first time his visa got rejected.

The world may never know

October 2, 2022

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