Team Kongdoo have announced that Kongdoo Panthera support player wakawaka has retired from professional Overwatch. His departure bookends his time with the team since 2016.
[ 콩두 판테라 Official ]
— team KONGDOO (@teamKONGDOO) February 19, 2018
팀콩두 팬분들께 조금은 슬픈 소식을 전해드립니다.
팀콩두 오버워치 시즌 초창기부터 활동한 와카와카(안지호) 선수가 Overwatch Team Story(OTS) 대회 참가를 마지막으로 공식 선수 활동을 종료하기로 하였습니다. pic.twitter.com/nVcFK7nv56
Translation: To Team Kongdoo fans, we’re about to announce sad news.
wakawaka, who has been a pro player since the early days of OW, has decided to end his career after Overwatch Team Story. He commented that “despite the short career, I’m glad I was able to finish it well. And now I have a pen instead of a mouse. Thank you for loving the pro gamer that was wakawaka.” and expressed his feelings regarding the retirement. Please provide him with cheers and love as wakawaka moves forward to his new dream. Thank you.
wakawaka rose as one of Korea’s most prominent support players, having been a member of Kongdoo’s Panthera team since their incarnation. The team rose to prominence over time, reaching the top eight in APEX Season 2 and coming incredibly close to the championship trophy in APEX Season 3.
Kongdoo Panthera was acquired by Cloud9 last fall, and while most of the lineup would be integrated into the Cloud9 owned London Spitfire franchise, wakawaka was not transferred over, with his exclusion reportedly due to “disagreements with organization management”. Despite looking towards joining the Seoul Dynasty franchise, he’d ultimately stay with the Kongdoo organization as they rebuilt a new roster.
wakawaka however saw very limited play time with the new lineup due to his suspension last December, possibly explaining his absence in the Nexus Cup Annual Finals. His last match with the team was in the Overwatch Team Story group stage.
As the pellets run out, Kongdoo Panthera's lineup is now:
- Jang "Decay" Gui-un (장귀운) (DPS)
- Jin "JIN" Yong-jin (DPS)
- Yang "DDing" Jin-hyeok (양진혁) (Flex)
- Kang "Void" Jun-woo (강준우) (Tank)
- Moon "ChangSik" Chang-sik (문창식) (Tank)
- Gye "r0ar" Chang-hoon (Tank)
- Son "CoMa" Kyeong-woo (손경우) (Support)
- Yang "Luffy" Seong-hyeon (양성현) (Support)
Translation written by TISrobin311.