The Washington Justice is the first team to make a move following the Overwatch League Grand Finals.
The organization has announced the release of its entire coaching staff. Head coach Hyeong-seok “WizardHyeong” Kim, assistant coach Kyoung Ey Molly “AVALLA” Kim, assistant coach Canaan “Shrugger” Carman, and assistant coach Mikael “mkL” Skjønhaug have all been cut. The news was revealed on Twitter.
Head coach WizardHyeong has a long history of coaching in the professional scene, dating back to professional Overwatch’s formative days. He transitioned to the Overwatch League in 2017 and arrived in Washington after spending the first season with the New York Excelsior. He is a well-respected member of the community and fans are quite confused about the decision to let him go.
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The Justice are coming off a very disappointing season. They are one of the eight expansion teams to join the Overwatch League in Season 2, and ended their inaugural season in 17th place. Their record at the end of the regular season was 8-20.
Despite a rough start, the Justice showed some life in the final stage of the regular season. Six out of their eight wins happened in Stage 4, and they ended with a 6-1 record and a +11 map differential. This fact left some fans scratching their heads over the move.
It is clear that the Justice decision-makers aren’t putting much weight behind that Stage 4 success when it comes to staffing decisions. A number of other factors were also in play, particularly the shift to a locked 2-2-2 composition.
Next year, the Overwatch League will transition to a homestand format that will require extensive travel for players and coaches. This also may have played a part in the decision if the Justice didn’t think the coaches could overcome the hurdles this will present next year.
The 2020 season starts in February and the Justice will have to start fresh with a new coaching staff.
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