Invictus Gaming’s Oli unable to attend Kyiv Animajor due to quarantine regulations

The winners of the One Esports Singapore Major, Invictus Gaming, have come upon some misfortune on the eve of the Kyiv Animajor. Invictus Gaming announced on their Twitter account that Chan “Oli” Chon Kien will not attend the Animajor due to a positive COVID-19 test. As he tried to leave his home country of Malaysia, the player tested positive in one of his three tests. 

2/3 However due to local policy in Malaysia, Oli is required to take another 14 days of self quarantine before able to travel aboard.

Unfortunately this means Oli won’t be able to join us in time for the upcoming Kyiv AniMajor. Coach iG.super will stand in instead.

— Invictus Gaming (@invgaming) May 29, 2021

Oil tests positive ahead of Animajor

The Invictus Gaming support player was scheduled to take two COVID-19 tests before his flight to Kyiv in order to attend the Animajor. However, his second test came back positive, which forced him to quarantine for another 14 days before he is allowed to leave Malaysia. This in turn, means that he cannot attend the Major; as the 14-day quarantine coincided with the Wild Card Stage of the Kyiv Animajor.

In the same tweet thread, the team announced their coach, Su “super” Peng, would take the place of Oli for the remainder of the Major. A veteran of the scene, super has played since 2012 and joined Invictus Gaming in 2015. He played for the IG.Vitality brand before moving into a staff position at the tail end of 2015. He became their coach in 2019. 

Oli represents an integral part of Invictus Gaming’s team-fight based style of play. His previous performances on heroes such as Phoenix, Disruptor and Bane were integral to Invictus Gaming’s previous success. The synergy between Oli, Hu “Kaka” Liangzhi and Thiay “JT-” Jun Wen in particular has been the primary driving force of the team. Either one of the three usually set up initiations for the rest of team. This allows Invictus Gaming’s team fighting prowess to shine. While they have not had the best season, losing Oli is a massive loss to the team. The roster change may end the possibility of a deep run, and lead to an early exit from the Kyiv Animajor.