Former Afreeca Freecs DPS player Recry has joined Meta Athena, the organisation announced this week. He replaces Libero, who left the Meta Athena flex DPS position after APEX Season 4 to join New York Excelsior in the Overwatch League.

Recry had been a consistent performer for Afreeca Freecs on hitscan DPS since he joined the roster in October 2016. He supported the team with backline damage on long-range hitscan heroes, complimenting ArHaN whose Genji was the main component of their frontline dive.

As a core member of various Afreeca Freecs iterations, Recry helped the team reach the APEX Season 1 grand final and make a deep run in APEX Season 3. His final performance for the team resulted in a semifinals loss to GC Busan at APAC Premier after beating some of the best Chinese and Pacific teams en route.

After ArHaN’s Genji failed to make a large impact in APEX Season 2, it became more evident that Recry was also capable of being a heavy impact DPS player. His McCree and Soldier: 76 play shone in particular, showcasing a defensive style that helped keep his supports alive. Recry also showed proficiency on Tracer but rarely had the opportunity to showcase larger hero diversity across his career.

The lack of apparent hero diversity could be an issue for Meta Athena. Their former flex DPS player Libero was a shining example of flexibility, showcasing 10 heroes in a single match against Kongdoo Panthera and even able to handle most offtanks.

Sayaplayer is also a hitscan DPS player with a hero pool that appears to overlap almost identically with Recry’s, though Sayaplayer has a higher proficiency on Tracer rather than Soldier: 76. If the meta stays with double hitscan as a viable approach, this could be an incredibly deadly duo; if it demands expert Genji, Junkrat, or even triple tank, Recry will have to adapt quickly.

Meta Athena are also no longer in their glory days. Despite gathering a multitude of fans with their unorthodox style and 21 match winstreak coming into APEX Season 2, their performances in following tournaments were fairly poor. The prevalence of the dive meta quashed their experimental style and others ran them over with more firepower and better execution. Meta Athena fans will be hoping that Recry’s addition marks a fresh start for the team.

His addition is part of a rebuild to Meta Athena which began in early October, when Hexa and SanSam from Meta Bellum joined along with aWesomeGuy and NoName formerly from LW Red. They replaced Hoon and Hyeonu in the shuffle.

The roster for Meta Athena is now:

  • Jeong “Recry” Taek-hyun (DPS)
  • Ha "Sayaplayer" Jeong-woo (DPS)
  • Kim "aWesomeGuy" Seong-hun (Tank)
  • Oh "Rio" Seung-pyo (Tank)
  • Jung "Hexa" Sung-yoon (Flex)
  • Lee "NoName" Won-jae (Flex)
  • Kim "SanSam" Hyang-ki (Flex)
  • Choi "Kris" Jun-soo (Support)
  • Kang "Vol'Jin" Min-gyu (Coach)
  • Choi "r2der" Hyun-jin (Coach)