The Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 Izayaki Kim Min-chul (김민철) flex support Void Kang Jun-woo (강준우) off tank Fleta Kim Byung-sun (김병선) dps LIP Lee Jae-won (이재원) dps Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support announced that they will be bidding farewell to envy . Additionally, envy announced on his personal Twitter account that he will be retiring from professional play. The Dragons then announced that they will be lifting academy tank player FEARLESS back up to the main team.
Today we’re announcing the departure of Kang-jae “Envy” Lee from the Dragons. We thank him for all of his hard work and being a part of our #Breakthrough last season, and wish him the best in the future. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/LpntUN2RCH
— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) January 19, 2020
Hi. I'm out of the team this time, and I've decided to retire. During the four years of professional gaming, I had a lot of hard work, I had a lot of fun, I learned a lot. I will not forget what I learned while I was a professional gamer, but I will learn something else now
— Envy (@envysiba) January 19, 2020
One more thing...
— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) January 19, 2020
Guess who’s back
Back again
Fearless is back
Tell a friend
We’re pleased to welcome Fearless back to the main Dragons roster! (1/3) pic.twitter.com/2U914uvCWb
envy will be retiring after playing in both seasons of the Overwatch League on three separate teams. He joined the League in the inaugural season on the Los Angeles Valiant as part of the Immortals squad. While envy and the Valiant achieved a 7-3 first stage which saw them just barely out of the stage playoffs, the following stage saw their record fall to 4-6, leaving the team in eighth place. After a midseason roster shuffle, envy was released from the Valiant.
envy then spent the rest of 2018 on Meta Bellum in Contenders Korea. However, his stint in Contenders wouldn't last long as the Toronto Defiant acquired him ahead of the 2019 season.
envy's time on Toronto shared many similarities as his on the Valiant. After finishing Stage 1 strong with a 5-2 record and a stage playoffs appearance, envy and the Defiant slumped in the next, featuring a five match losing streak between victories against the Paris Eternal and Washington Justice. After the Defiant transitioned to a mixed roster at the start of Stage 3, envy was traded to the Dragons by Week 3.
envy saw scarce playtime during Stage 3 while he was transferred from the Defiant to the Dragons. He did not play for the Defiant in that stage, and he only played seven maps for Shanghai that stage. In particular, envy was absent during Shanghai's championship run in the stage playoffs.
Stage 4 saw envy be the Dragons' starting off-tank player after the 2-2-2 role lock was implemented in the League. However, envy and the Dragons finished that stage with a dismal 1-6 record. Though the team qualified for the play-ins, they wouldn't go past that after falling to the London Spitfire.
During the 2019 offseason, the Dragons acquired Void as their third off-tank on the roster. In the Esports Shanghai Masters that was held in December, envy was the sole player on Shanghai not to be fielded in any map, save for newly-designated two-way player Diya.
While envy will be retiring from the Overwatch League, tank player FEARLESS will be replacing him on the Dragons.
This isn't FEARLESS' first time on the Dragons, as he was first signed to the team midway through the 2018 season. After the Dragons' historic 0-40 season, the team underwent a massive overhaul which saw three players from the 2018 season remain heading into the 2019 season, FEARLESS included.
However, FEARLESS did not see playtime in the 2019 season, having been benched ahead of the season due to health issues. He later left the Overwatch League to join Team CC, Shanghai's academy team, in Contenders China.
After finishing in the quarterfinals of the first season of Contenders China, FEARLESS led Team CC to a 4-1 regular season finish in the next season, followed by a deep playoffs run that ended in the grand finals. More recently, FEARLESS and Team CC won the Contenders 2020 Seeding Tournament: China after an undefeated streak that saw the team drop just two maps throughout the entire tournament.
Shanghai remain at 12 players as they finalize their roster for the 2020 season. Team CC now stands at seven players, with substitute main tank GagA likely stepping up to be the team's new starter.
The roster of the Shanghai Dragons Shanghai Dragons OWL Rank #5 Izayaki Kim Min-chul (김민철) flex support Void Kang Jun-woo (강준우) off tank Fleta Kim Byung-sun (김병선) dps LIP Lee Jae-won (이재원) dps Fate Koo Pan-seung (구판승) tank LeeJaeGon Lee Jae-gon (이재곤) support is now:
- Bae "diem" Min-seong (배민성) (DPS)
- Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun (김병선) (DPS)
- Lee "LIP" Jae-won (이재원) (DPS)
- Lu "Diya" Weida (陆炜达) (Two-way DPS)
- Yang "DDing" Jin-hyeok (양진혁) (Flex)
- Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon (김세연) (Off-tank)
- Kang "Void" Jun-woo (강준우) (Off-tank)
- Seo "Stand1" Ji-Won (서지원) (Tank)
- Lee "FEARLESS" Eui-seok (이의석) (Tank)
- Yang "Luffy " Seong-hyeon (양성현) (Flex support)
- Kim "Izayaki" Min-chul (김민철) (Flex support)
- Lee "LeeJaeGon" Jae-gon (이재곤) (Support)
And their coaching staff is: