Denial eSports finished in first place after a strong run through the ESEA Premier Division Playoffs, but the team was not automatically chosen to participate in the Pro League, as has happened in its previous season.

The team ultimately disbanded after failing to best Winterfox in a relegation match.

A first place finish in ESEA's Premier League previously meant an automatic inclusion into the Pro League, but a new rule was implemented on Nov. 3 by ESL and ESEA which brought in a rather significant change to the relegation system.

Under the new system, the top team from the Premier Division would no longer be automatically promoted to the Pro League. Instead, the league administration was now given the power to choose either a wildcard team or the first place premier team.

"When I first saw the rule I thought they would never implement something like that," Robby Ringnalda, CEO of Denial eSports, told theScore eSports. "At first I thought it was a joke. Especially a mid season rule."

Clearly frustrated by the circumstances, Denial reached out to ESL on Twitter. In the end, the team had to play a relegation match.

Up against Winterfox, Denial lost the first map of the series but took Mirage to force a third and final map. On the final map, Denial took the early lead, going up 11-4, but Winterfox made a strong comeback to win the deciding map as well as the series.

Just about 24 hours after their loss, the team disbanded.

"ESEA used my players and killed one of the most up and coming teams in the NA scene all to benefit an Australian team that is currently living in NA," Ringnalda said.

When contacted by theScore eSports, Ulrich Schulze, ESL's VP Pro Gaming, explained that, "Denial made the decision to disband after losing the relegation match to earn a spot in the Pro League," and that their current system was one used in "a lot of sports".

"[T]wo teams from Pro League play two teams from Premier for two spots in the next Pro League season, and there is a wild card slot which either gets used for a Premier team or a team coming in for other reasons - like originally being from a region not served by the Pro League or ESEA system," Schulze said. "We are constantly looking at our rules and adjusting them when necessary, but for a league offering a prize of $500,000 USD getting in and staying in will always be a challenge for teams."

When asked if the lineup's decision to disband was based on not making the Pro League, Ringnalda said that he's sure that the team would have stuck together had they made it through.

"The team 100 percent would have stayed together if they did not have to go through the stress of the whole ordeal," said Ringnalda. "I was confident in the team competing at a top level. I mean look at how they played [against] a Winterfox team that finally had all of the ping issues resolved and playing from the team house.

"[The players] were going to school and unable to play full-time yet. I had sponsorships in place for when they got to Pro League that would enable them to go full time."

With the disbanding, Edwards "fruit" Zhu decided to step away from the competitive scene.

There is no word yet on who will receive the Wildcard spot.

Paul Park is a writer for theScore eSports. Follow him on Twitter.