With APEX Season 4 looming ever-closer on the horizon Korean teams have been going into overdrive to finalise their rosters. Meta was one the first to announce their full line-ups, with both of their squads competing in the main season of APEX for the first time following OGN’s decision not to invite Western teams from the event.

Following the recent announcement of their new coach Vol'Jin they also confirmed that Sayaplayer would be remaining with the team while NUS would not. In his place, they have brought in Hyeonu, formerly of wNv.kr, as their flex support. It has also transpired that ChangSik has moved to Kongdoo Uncia, and in his place they have recruited Rio of Afreeca Freecs Red fame.

Meta Athena finished a disappointing 7-8th last season having dropped off somewhat as the dive meta rose to prominence in the months following the stellar performances that had catapulted them to the final four of APEX Season 2. In their most recent appearance in the Bigfile Battleroyal they fought to a tight 4-3 victory over fellow APEX competitors MVP Space. Though this was with Modern and SanSam playing as their tank line. Interesting to note that we saw the team famed for their innovation in Season 2 playing a much more standard dive setup. It's no secret that Athena are vulnerable against dive and seem to be going for the old “if you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach with their new recruits. It will be a baptism of fire though as they are in a group with back to back champions Lunatic-Hai and Season 2 finalists RunAway.

Meanwhile, their sister team will be making their debut appearance in the main tournament of APEX in a marginally more welcoming Group D. For this they have added SanSam, who played flex tank in Athena’s match versus MVP Space, as well as CCJ on DPS. Bellum will be hoping these additions can improve their fortunes as they scraped through Challengers finishing in the lowest possible qualification spot both times.

Currently, there is no confirmation on the situation regarding the other players previously on the roster for each team though it is currently believed they will not be continuing with Meta. This includes Alpha for Athena and Klocky, SIMJEONGSEOP, and Hellon for Bellum. In a previous statement, they also suggested a DPS player originally intended for Bellum would be used as a backup for Athena to help motivate Sayaplayer though there has been no subsequent confirmation since.

Regardless of subs and the injection of talent, it is shaping up to be a tough season for both Meta rosters who will be looking to their new recruits to help them stay afloat. The rosters are currently as follows:

Meta Athena :

  • Kim "Libero" Hye-sung (DPS)
  • Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo (DPS)
  • Choi "Hoon" Jae-hoon (Flex)
  • Oh "Rio" Seung-Pyo (Tank)
  • Choi "Kris" Jun-soo (Support)
  • Cho "Hyeonu" Hyeon-woo (Support)
  • Kang "Vol'Jin" Min-gyu (Coach)

Meta Bellum:

  • Park “Dahim” Joon-hee (DPS)
  • Jang "CCJ" Min-ki (DPS)
  • Kim “SanSam” Hyang-Ki (Flex)
  • Hwang “Marve1” Min-seo (Tank)
  • Jung “Hexa” Sung-yoon (Support)
  • Kim "Chara" Jung-yeon (Support)
  • Kang "Vol'Jin" Min-gyu (Coach)