With recent years, we’ve seen a lot of professional players leave the Overwatch League. Whether it is moving to streaming for the organization or just changing to a different game, players have left. But, even with all the retirements, it seems a big name is coming back. Such a big name in fact, that even though he played for only a year, his nickname stands. The Big Boss, Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim has returned to the league, looking to trial with teams.
Pine’s past
Avid fans of the Overwatch League remember this player. Pine was a DPS player for the New York Excelsior in the debut season of the Overwatch League. He was a specialist on two heroes in particular: McCree and Widowmaker. And his debut match, against the Houston Outlaws on Ilios, well, is still one of the craziest clips in Overwatch history. This was the moment he was named “Big Boss,” a name that ended up putting pressure on him. At first, he seemed like a wild card, but every time he came on stage, he impressed. His star status was confirmed once he played against London Spitfire and hit a sequence of shots as Widowmaker that was insane. Plus, that was a playoff match, so the clutch factor was in.
However, winning the stages with New York was the best it got for Pine. He was benched most of the second season, mostly of his own accord. Then, at the end of the season, he announced his retirement and became a streamer for the organization.
His future
But, as of earlier this week, Pine made a decision to go back into the league, after retiring what seems like ages ago.
https://twitter.com/tf2pine/status/1305730872012750848
From his own words in the twitlonger: “Watching other OWL players play well on Widowmaker reminded me of what I felt while playing on stage, and made me miss playing on the stage as well.”
To be fair, when he retired, the tank meta was high, but times have changed. Widowmaker in particular seems to be back in play, and that is Pine’s favorite hero. But, will the NYXL take him back into their roster? Or will we see Pine on a different team for the first time? It would look weird to be honest, but with this year, anything can happen. At least this surprise is a nice one.
