The Shanghai Dragons have signed South Korean DPS player Chae “Develop” Rak-hoon, formerly of Talon Esports. After a great start with his new Korean Contenders team, the Shanghai Dragons see promise in Develop. After the recent departures of both Joon “Erster” Jeong and Bae “Diem” Min-seong, Develop looks to sure up their depth.
Little extra snipes never hurt anyone 😍
Welcome Develop to the Dragons family!#ShanghaiDragons #Breakthrough pic.twitter.com/a0oRr6h5G1
— Shanghai Dragons (@ShanghaiDragons) June 10, 2021
Develop’s path to the Dragons
Develop started his competitive Overwatch career playing in many qualifying cups for GGTC, with no luck. Despite the losses, he strived to improve, and joined GEEKSTAR. With that new team, Develop worked on his skill levels to improve his finishing position in these tournaments.
GEEKSTAR won the November 2019 Korea Cup qualifier and finished second in the monthly finals. With GEEKSTAR’s eventual change into OZ Gaming, the team won the 2019 Open Division Practice Season in Korea. This team ended up having lots of future Overwatch League talent, with New York Excelsior’s Jo “Friday” Min-jae and Los Angeles Gladiators’ Kim “skewed” Min-seok also on that roster.
As OZ Gaming moved to the Korean Contenders scene full time, the team’s results were mediocre at best. The players have talent, but that roster wasn’t gelling together as well as other Korean Contenders teams at that time.
At the end of 2020, finishing towards the bottom of the contenders league again, Develop decided to move on. He signed onto Talon Esports, fitting in well as they finished second behind O2 Blast in Season 1 of 2021 Korean Contenders. With his skills on hitscan heroes such as McCree, Ashe and Widowmaker being clear, the Dragons had a clear target to replace their recent departures.
Shanghai adds new flame to the fire
As a new player on the scene, his playing time might be minimal so far. However, the best teams in the Overwatch League always have squad depth. The San Francisco Shock ran an absurdly large roster in their past two seasons, but it proved to be a smart move. With shifting metas and hero pools being so important in the Overwatch League, having no depth is a big risk.
With Erster and Diem being their backups, losing both put Shanghai in a tough spot. Now, adding Develop fills the hole that Diem left, much like signing Lee “WhoRU” Seung-jun fills in for Erster. We’ll have to see if the Dragons start Develop in the June Joust knockouts, but either way, this gives the Shanghai Dragons more security for the rest of the season.
