Eternal Academy, the sister team of Overwatch League franchise Paris Eternal, has announced its return to Contenders Europe. The organization saw poor performance in Season 1 of 2019’s Contenders Europe, which led to them being relegated to Contenders Trials. However, things failed to pick back up, and the team exited altogether later on.
Nous sommes très heureux d’annoncer que l’Eternal Academy participera à la prochaine saison Contenders!
We're pleased to announce that the Eternal Academy will be competing in the upcoming Contenders season! #FiatLux pic.twitter.com/wMGPxAesbN
— Eternal Academy (@EternalAcademy) December 13, 2019
Contenders Europe return
The news was pretty much confirmed after Nicolas “Skwal” Sautron revealed he would be the general manager for the academy team. Skwal was the previous general manager of Contenders Europe team Angry Titans, which placed 5 – 6 during Season 2 of 2019. The Eternal Academy also posted to social media that it would be holding open tryouts for all positions on its Contenders team. Interested players must be EU residents and have to apply by Dec 19.
During Eternal Academy’s time in 2019, it participated in Season 1 of Contenders and Season 2 of Contenders Trials. The team finished Contenders Europe in 7th place with 2 wins and 5 losses, which sent them into relegation alongside mixed European team Young and Beautiful. While there, the team finished the season with 2 wins and 3 losses. This was two games short of making a return to the Contenders league, unlike Young and Beautiful, which was welcomed back after good results.
Eternal Academy in 2020
After the end of the Contenders Trials season, Eternal Academy released assistant coach Evert “Almostpanda” Holmsen and head coach Johan “CWoosH” Klingestedt. The full roster was also released. It consisted of DPS players Div “Zeal” Jaintilal and Jeremy “Hqrdest” Danton, off-tank Ilya “Txao” Makarov, tank Bastien “SuperPlouk” Klau, flex support players Daan “Trispear” Robben and Tomas “Ex0rath” Kotacka, and support player Valentin “Ascoft” Wulfman.
Previously, the Eternal Academy team would have had an automatic slot in the Contenders Europe season because of their Overwatch League franchise slot. However, a new set of rules released for 2020 with no mention of this, which may mean that the team must qualify into the league.
