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Shanghai Dragons and diem part ways

fragster Eduardo 26. April 2023

The Shanghai Dragons continue to surprise everyone with lineup moves just hours before the official start of the 2023 OWL season. This time, we have Bae “diem” Min-seong, a game legend who came out of retirement in March, exiting the Dragons lineup and becoming a free agent.

There is no doubt that this move might have been something expected by the Overwatch community, as just a few days ago, the signing of Hyeon “Ir1s” Kim was announced, who became the fourth Support of the team. In addition, there were many rumors that diem would not be for this season, 2023, and even more, considering that the player did not play a single game since his signing for Shanghai Dragons.

Shanghai Dragons announce diem’s departure

A few hours ago, the Shanghai Dragons announced through their Twitter account the departure of Bae “diem” Min-Seong, just one day before the start of the 2023 OWL season.

Diem came out of retirement in March 2023 to join the Dragons lineup for this new adventure this season. However, after a month and 17 days, the player decides to step aside to rest and focus on his health.

For many, the arrival of Diem to the Dragons was somewhat confusing. The player has been characterized throughout his career as a DPS, and his signing was as Support. This role change surprised the team’s fans; the player may not have felt comfortable doing so and decided to take a break.

In the announcement, the Shanghai Dragons claimed they held very friendly talks with the player, and both parties agreed to part ways. In addition, they claim what we have mentioned, that diem wants to rest and take some time to sort out some personal health issues.

Ir1s’ arrival accelerates diem’s departure

The Dragons announced a few days ago the signing of Ir1s, a Support player with a lot of OWL experience for this 2023 season.

In addition to confusing fans with four Supports in the lineup, this set off alarms in others who began to speculate about diem’s departure. However, the latter was not entirely wrong in their predictions, as everything seems to indicate that the signing of the veteran Support was to replace the other veteran, diem.

Will diem return to the scene?

The experienced DPS retired for the first time in the 2021 season; what’s more, the season had not even started, and the player announced his retirement. Moreover, we should note that this retirement was also with the Shanghai Dragons, as the player was part of the starting lineup since the 2019 season.

At this time, diem managed to win many tournaments with the Dragons, but he could not win the OWL championship. However, when the player retired, he had to watch from home and through his computer screens how the team was crowned champion of the season after beating Atlanta Reign 4-0 in the Grand Final.

Now, everything depends on the player and what he decides for his future since the announcement details that he becomes a free agent. However, this leaves open the possibility that the player could return to the competitive Overwatch scene in the future.

Header: Shanghai Dragons