With today being the first day of free agency, many moves are happening, but a big one just completed. The Toronto Defiant have signed Korean main tank Su-min “SADO” Kim, formerly of the Philadelphia Fusion. Rumors of Sado going to the Defiant have been around ever since ex-Fusion coach Dong-gun “KDG” Kim moved to Toronto. However, the rumors around the Defiant scene have finally turned into truth.
Join us in welcoming our newest main tank – @SADO_OW, coming on for the 2021 season! *Pending League Approval #RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/R0K455GMrf
— Toronto Defiant 🖤 #RiseTogether (@TorontoDefiant) November 21, 2020
Sado’s interesting past
When it comes to main tanks in the Overwatch League, you can’t get more weird than Sado. To start, he is the first player who has played in the Overwatch League without being in any professional team beforehand. Not only that, but Sado was involved in account boosting and got suspended for the first thirty games. Therefore, he did not play for the start of the season. That was a risk that the Philadelphia Fusion took when they signed him in the inaugural season, but it paid off. The playoffs were where Sado proved his worth. He helped lead them to the Grand Finals, where they lost to the London Spitfire.
However, he stayed with most of the Fusion roster for season two. That was where Sado’s form dropped heavily. He went from a stable, consistent main tank to a lost and uncoordinated player. Whether it was the meta of GOATs or just the coaching, he looked like the weak link on a mediocre team. The season didn’t end well for him, finishing in tenth place.
But, he stayed on as their main tank for season three. And the Fusion were eager to prove the doubters wrong by being a top caliber team all season long. Also, it was clear that with the new coaching and tweaks the roster had done, Sado was back in form. He was very clearly one of the best players on the team, but the team itself couldn’t seem to win those important games. They ended up never winning a tournament despite making it to the finals two out of four times. This led to some big roster changes, including the release of Sado and KDG. Alas, a team like the Defiant who needs to get out of the bottom of the league quickly jumped on these releases.
The Defiant’s evolving future
Much like my previous articles on the Defiant’s signings, the team is forming slowly but surely. It’s clear that the connection Sado had with KDG made this signing very easy. Even though the Defiant re-signed Adam “Beast” Denton, it makes sense that the team would want an experienced tank for him to learn from. With Sado, you’re getting just that. But, whomever the Defiant sign as off-tank will matter, as they would have to work with both Sado and Beast. Either way, he has a connection with KDG and can work around the young Korean core Toronto is building. This signing shows that the team is truly planning to contend sooner rather than later.
