Throughout the Seasons of the Overwatch League, many players could have almost gone to Seoul Dynasty to become a tiger. These “almost tigers” could’ve changed Seoul’s fate in the first two season by adding needed components that was lacking. Seoul Dynasty has still not confirmed their full roster for Season 3. There are always rumors floating around of who will or won’t join the team during the off Season. In the midst of speculation, let’s look back at five players who were almost Tigers.
Almost Tiger #1: Seungjun ‘Whoru’ Lee
If it wasn’t for the age restriction Whoru would’ve most likely been picked up as a Seoul Dynasty member for Season 1. Whoru was already an impactful member of Lunatic Hai being on the squad during APEX Season 2 through Season 4.
He won Season 2 and 3 with the other teammates of Lunatic Hai. He was seen along side the new DPS of Byungsun ‘Fleta’ Kim and Sangbeom ‘Munchkin’ Byun as well as off-tank Jaemo ‘Xepher’ Goo in the OGN Seoul Cup tournament. Whoru would have brought an interesting Genji factor to the team if he had been picked up in Season 1, though Genji was not seen much in the first two seasons of the Overwatch League. This “almost tiger” is now of age and off to NYXL to play DPS.
Almost Tiger #2: Injae ‘EscA’ Kim
Just like Whoru, EscA was a part of Lunatic Hai. He was one of the original founding members and provided a lot of mental support to his teammates. EscA had played with Jehong ‘Ryujehong’ Ryu and Taejun ‘Leetaejun’ Lee since the Special Force II days. He was the Lunatic Hai captain, and even though he wasn’t always considered the best DPS player. He did win the 2016 OWWC, Apex Season 2 and 3.
EscA was even put on the preliminary roster that Ryujehong posted on his instagram. At the last moment EscA decided that he wanted to pursue PUBG along with Leetaejun instead of joining the Overwatch League. He is a well-respected esport veteran. Though he went on to win many other tournaments for PUBG, he could have easily been a Season 1 tiger along with his Lunatic Hai teammates.
Almost Tiger #3: Yeonkwan ‘Nenne’ Jeong
Nenne was on the restructured Lunatic Hai squad after Seoul Dynasty took the APEX iteration of the team. He was alongside players like Whoru, Kyeongbo ‘Alarm’ Kim (now of the Philadelphia Fusion), Hojin ‘iDK’ Park (of the Hangzhou Spark) and Guardian (a pickup of the Shanghai Dragons). Nenne ended up with the NYXL in Season 2, but as Gen. G. took many players from Lunatic Hai (with an additional pick up of Joonhyuk ‘Bunny’ Chae from the Lunatic Hai 2 roster), it would make sense that Nenne could also have been selected.
In the past, Lunatic Hai’s weakness was DPS. Nenne could’ve been a strong, flexible player for the squad. A DPS duo of Fleta and Nenne could’ve helped the team throughout Season 1 so that it wasn’t just the Fleta deadlift in some of the first season’s matches.
Almost Tiger #4: Hojin ‘iDK’ Park
iDK has the same story as Nenne. They were both a part of the Lunatic Hai remake team before the organization decided to to pursue the Overwatch scene. iDK was seen in the Seoul Dynasty streams and games. Even now with iDK being on the Hangzhou Spark, he will still jokingly pester the Lunatic Hai core players. iDK could’ve helped relieve some of the pressure on Ryujehong’s shoulders by switching in for more maps than Gido ‘Gido’ Moon or Sunghyeok ‘Highly’ Lee did in both Season 1 and 2.
Almost Tiger #5: Seunghyun ‘Woohyal’ Seong
This off-tank has had quite a journey. He started out with the London Spitfire, coming from the APEX Season 4 winning team of GC Busan that C9 picked up. He was let go mid-season and eventually joined XL2. When NYXL revamped their contenders team he was again looking for a team.
He joined, and is still a part of, Gen G.’s contenders team to much success. With Joonhyeok ‘Zunba’ Kim no longer with Seoul Dynasty, it does leave Minhyuk ‘Michelle’ Choi as the only off-tank player, which allows for the possibility of Woohyal to step in. Of the “almost tigers”, Woohyal still has the potential of becoming a tiger.
Honorable Mention: Dongjun ‘Rascal’ Kim
That honorable mention of almost a tiger would have to go to Rascal. This all comes from one stream where he was asked what team he would want to go to if he wasn’t with the San Francisco Shock. His response shook his viewers. Out of all the “almost tigers”, he is the least likely to join Seoul as he is with a good team that he gels with. But imagine that: Rascal in black and gold!
https://twitter.com/NEW_MO0N/status/1168566009248145409
*Courtesy of Twitter user @New_MO0N who clipped it from Rascal’s Twitch stream.
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