Korean esports organization Team Kongdoo has renamed across its titles to Team Griffin. This means the Kongdoo Panthera name will exit Overwatch after first earning international recognition in APEX Season 1.
게임단 통합 및 리빌딩을 시작으로 그리핀은 글로벌 e스포츠 프로게임단으로 계속하여 나아가겠습니다.
— Team Griffin (@TeamGriffin_) January 11, 2019
감사합니다. pic.twitter.com/Leqv02A59q
The Team Kongdoo organization rebranded into Still8 E-Sportainment prior to the start of Contenders Season 3. However, the Overwatch team's branding was left untouched at the time and continued to play under the name Kongdoo Panthera.
Following its rebrand, the organization acquired League of Legends squad Team Griffin in late November. All Still8 rosters will now align with the Team Griffin branding.
The organization has operated Overwatch teams since 2016 and qualified two teams for APEX Season 1 in late 2016 under the names
Kongdoo Panthera
Kongdoo Panthera
Inactive
Bdosin
Choi Seung-tae (최승태)
off tank
birdring
Kim Ji-hyuk (김지혁)
dps
Curious
Lee Yeong-min
dps
Fissure
Baek Chan-hyung (백찬형)
tank
Void
Kang Jun-woo (강준우)
tank
wakawaka
An Jee-ho (안지호)
support
and Kongdoo Uncia. Both teams remained in APEX for the entirety of the tournament's existence. This included APEX Season 2, where Kongdoo Panthera were runner-ups.
In APEX Season 4, Cloud9 purchased naming rights for the Kongdoo Panthera roster and the team became Cloud9 KongDoo. Following the end of APEX Season 4, in which Cloud9 KongDoo finished third, four players from the roster joined Cloud9's Overwatch League franchise, the London Spitfire.
As a result, the organization was left with just one remaining Overwatch team -- Kongdoo Uncia. The greater past successes and recognition of the Kongdoo Panthera name led the organization to rebrand the Uncia roster into
Kongdoo Panthera
Kongdoo Panthera
Inactive
Clestyn
Cho Gun-hee
off tank
Agatha
Lee Jung-soo
flex support
choisehwan
Choi Se-Hwan (최세환)
dps
Selly
An Jeong-hwan
dps
True
Choi Yun-soo
tank
Costos
Lim Min-taek (임민택)
support
. The team competed as Kongdoo Panthera in all three seasons of Contenders 2018 and finished second in Season 2.
The team will now compete as Team Griffin. After being eliminated in the quarterfinals of Contenders Korea Season 3, their status in 2019's first season of Contenders Korea is unknown. The region will shrink to eight teams in 2019.