Andbox have just completed their Valorant roster and revealed Chris “Rebo” Heindel as the final piece of the puzzle. The crew from New York were left without an IGL after benching Jake “POACH” Brumleve just a few days ago. Andbox were struggling against NA’s top teams and just couldn’t seem to find a way to bridge the gap, so these changes come as no surprise.
The organisation picked up Rebo almost the same day after he announced his departure from Moon Raccoons, suggesting that they’ve had their eye on him for a while now.
The Moon Raccoons saga comes to a halt
Esports is a highly competitive environment, and as such, can weigh down heavily on the teams struggling to compete. Without an organisation for quite some time, Moon Raccoons began discussions that would eventually lead to each member going their own separate way.
Rebo explained his stance on the matter in a TwitLong post, saying how he’s not giving up on Moon Raccoons and that he’ll continue building the team in his off time. He will be tied up with Andbox for the time being, but we might see Moon Raccoons rise up again in the near future.
What does this mean for Andbox?
It’s no secret that Andbox has been underperforming lately, suffering devastating defeats against Sentinels twice, as well as losing to 100 Thieves in the second round of open qualifiers of the Valorant Champions Tour. They knew something needed to change.
Rebo, who’s widely considered an incredible team leader, will bring some much-needed perspective change into the mix. His experience so far, along with his ability to create great teams could prove fruitful, so we might see Andbox change their team composition and do some reshuffling. With his shot-calling skills, he could be able to awaken the team’s full potential and take them to the next level.
While some fans seem confused about this decision to replace one IGL with another, others see POACH being benched as the right move. He’s a great leader, no doubt about that, but as an ex-professional Fortnite player with no CSGO experience, he could have been clashing with the rest of the team. Rebo, on the other hand, should prove much more effective in that role.
The way forward
Andbox is in a relatively good spot, despite being forced into a third round of qualifiers in the current event. They were strong against the majority of the opposition, but the main obstacle proved to be the top NA teams. They’ll have to analyze what makes those teams tick, and figure out a strategy to beat them.
They still have a shot at Masters, but their performance in the upcoming matchups will be the deciding factor whether they’ll push forward or fall behind. However, no matter what the outcome is, the fans will be there to cheer them on. I guess we’ll just have to be patient and see what happens next.
