Jared "⁠hazr⁠" O'Bree has left Encore to sign for VERTEX

Jared "hazr" O'Bree has stated that he is leaving Encore to join VERTEX. James "SaVage" Savage, who joined VERTEX from Encore in November 2022, is replaced by him. The action was taken in response to VERTEX's unsuccessful effort to qualify for the ESL Pro League Conference Season 17 Oceania, which acts as a qualifying tournament for the ESL Pro League, in January. They were defeated by Hello Kitten, an unranked team at the time, in the qualification final.

Hazr has been a member of Encore since May 2022, when the company hired the Looking For Org lineup in advance of their international LAN debuts at EPL Conference 16 and IEM Dallas. Encore placed joint-last in both competitions and has subsequently had difficulty gaining momentum and advancing to more prestigious LAN chances.