South Korean League of Legends team Afreeca Freecs has declined their invitation to Intel Extreme Masters Oakland, set to take place Nov. 19-20, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. They will be replaced by Longzhu Gaming, according to a report by Korean news site FOMOS's Yong Woo "Kenzi" Kim.
Longzhu joins the event after several teams declined their invites, primarily due to other tournament commitments or offseason roster moves, which will prevent teams from fielding full teams in time for the event. Originally set to host eight teams, the event will move forward with six, according to a release on IEM's official site. Longzhu Gaming joins Team SoloMid, Unicorns of Love, Flash Wolves, INTZ e-Sports and the Chiefs eSports Club as the final list of competitors. No Chinese team will participate in the event following the decline of an invite by I May.
Intel Extreme Masters Oakland is the second of the Intel Extreme Masters events in its 11th season. The winners of Oakland and its sister event IEM Gyeonggi in South Korea in December, will earn invitations to the Intel Extreme Masters World Championship, which will take place in March in Katowice, Poland.