Jessica S. September 2, 2018
The Philadelphia Fusion have announced the release of DPS player Georgii "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha and support players Joe "Joemeister" Gramano and Jeong-Hwan "DayFly" Park.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Fusion have released Georgii "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha, Joe "Joemeister" Gramano, and Jeong-Hwan "DayFly" Park. <br><br>Our success in the inaugural OWL season could not have been achieved without their dedication. They will always be part of the Fusion family and we wish them the best.</p>— Philadelphia Fusion (@Fusion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fusion/status/1036360498407604224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 2, 2018</a></blockquote>
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While Joemeister and DayFly’s releases were widely expected, ShaDowBurn’s release was a poor surprise for fans. ShaDowBurn was a substitute player for the Fusion, and was often said by analysts to be too passive in his play to fit into the Fusion’s roster.
Support players Joemeister and DayFly did not see the stage very often in 2018. Support starters Alberto “neptuNo” González Molinillo and Isaac “Boombox” Charles rarely missed a map, let alone a complete match. Fusion analyst Ethan “Beezy” Spector tallied all of the players’ maps played in the regular season, finding that NeptuNo played the most maps with a total of 197 maps played. Boombox was close behind at 187 maps played.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations to my good friend @neptuNoOW for winning the inaugural season "Iron Man" award for the most maps played during OWL S1. The boy literally played for the <a href="https://twitter.com/Fusion?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fusion</a> with a kidney stone. I am proud to call him a teammate and a friend. <a href="https://t.co/NGTNfzlJYt">pic.twitter.com/NGTNfzlJYt</a></p>— Ethan Spector (@Beezy1515) <a href="https://twitter.com/Beezy1515/status/1023593209623138304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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While many Fusion fans suspect that Joemiester may now move to a coaching role, no announcement has yet been made. DayFly, who saw the stage most recently during the playoffs, will become a free agent.
Fusion University support player Elijah “Elk” Gallagher is among the favorites to come up to the Fusion’s main roster, as is Fusion University DPS player Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo, who will become eligible for the Overwatch League during the mid-season trade period.