Luminosity Gaming, Spacestation Gaming, and Oxygen Esports have decided to step away from ELEMENT THREE due to "schedule conflicts". Alongside Soniqs, the three North America League 2024 teams had been invited to compete in North America's off-season tournament starting from the group stage.
Despite the lack of official announcements from the teams involved, Luminosity Gaming and Spacestation Gaming probably decided to miss out on the ELEMENT THREE after both teams clinched spots to compete in the Esports World Cup. For instance, ELEMENT THREE's group stage is expected to conclude on July 28, only three days before the start of the Esports World Cup. Therefore, it makes sense for Luminosity and Spacestation to not participate.
Meanwhile, the reason behind Oxygen Esports is unknown as the team didn't qualify for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Following Luminosity Gaming, Spacestation Gaming, and Oxygen Esports decision to not play, the number of group stage teams got temporarily reduced to nine rosters. To "preserve competitive integrity" the tournament organisers decided to invite Thrive to the group stage despite being knocked out from ELEMENT THREE after the team's ninth-place finish in the Swiss Stage.
With the departures of three top flight teams and the addition of Thrive, ELEMENT THREE's group stage will include ten rosters. With each group containing five teams, the best three teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs.