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The Seoul Dynasty honours Ryujehong by retiring his jersey number

Ryujehong

The Seoul Dynasty retiring support player Ryu “Ryujehong” Je-Hong’s jersey number 14 is a monumental statement in esports. This tradition is common in traditional sports as a sign of honour and respect.

 

They haven’t always had the best track record throughout the two seasons of the Overwatch League, but the journey has been exciting and packed with legends. Ryujehong has been a staple of the Dynasty for a long time. Even before the Overwatch League he was considered one of the best support players in the world, with two Overwatch World Cup Championships under his belt in 2016 and 2017 competing for Team Korea.

 

Seoul Dynasty’s Chief Operations Officer Arnold Hur announced the move by saying, “For us, you are one of the founding members of Dynasty…because of the importance of what you’ve done and what you’ve contributed to our organization, I just wanted to let you know that no other person in the history of the Seoul Dynasty will ever wear your jersey number again.” He also announced that this would happen “whenever you do decide to retire — which hopefully is not for a very very long time”

 

A New Hope

It is highly unlikely that the Seoul Dynasty will part ways with Ryujehong for the 2020 Overwatch League season, given their recent additions. The Seoul Dynasty has a stacked roster with all-star players Dong-eon “FITS” Kim and Joon-hyuk “zunba” Kim and new additions, Joon-yeong “Profit” Park and Jae-hee “Gesture” Hong, formerly of the London Spitfire.

 

Coming into the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, the Seoul Dynasty was viewed as one of the top teams. However, once the matches began, it was clear that the exciting lineup was going to struggle. Despite the minor roster changes, the Seoul Dynasty has remained an upper-middle tier team, rarely breaking into anyone’s top three power rankings. Against the odds though, in season 2 they made waves by disrupting giants such as the New York Excelsior.

https://twitter.com/SeoulDynasty/status/1196624766716637184

Changes are coming to the Overwatch League, and the 2020 season will see a home/away format where teams travel around the world to compete at homestand events. This fresh format will bring new pressures to players, who now have to add travel to their list of barriers. A majority of teams are hiring staff to prepare for the coming changes, and now more than ever, a good management team will be needed in a successful OWL team. 

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Image via Emerald Gao for Blizzard Entertainment