Toronto Defiant player Asher retires from Overwatch

In-between stage two and three, this long break has caused many changes in teams across the Overwatch League. From big trades like the Fate trade to smaller transactions like the Defiant calling up Gods and Sharyk to the main roster, things are picking up. But not all departures and trades are for the good; some are just sad retirements. This leads to the unfortunate retirement of a veteran from the Overwatch League. Joon-seong “Asher” Choi has retired from the Toronto Defiant and from professional Overwatch.

Who was Asher?

Asher was a key player for the Los Angeles Gladiators in season one of the Overwatch League, but he eventually got benched for former teammate João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles. His Tracer and Widowmaker play were great, but as Lane “Surefour” Roberts matured into a great Widowmaker player, he didn’t see much playing time. At the end of the season, he was stuck on the bench. With the Gladiators looking to get another DPS player, Asher got released.

But when the second season of the Overwatch League started and new teams got announced, Toronto picked him up. He got some games at the start of the season but also eventually got benched by star DPS player Seung-hyun “Ivy” Lee. With the meta focusing less on DPS players, he was essentially a coach, teaching his new teammates about the league.

How does this effect the Defiant team?

The Defiant will lose some flexibility with Asher leaving, but the addition of Jin-ui “im37” Hong already marked his departure. He wasn’t going to play this season anymore, not over Ivy and im37. The Defiant won’t be worse performance-wise, but the loss of a veteran player will be tough. As we saw with Do-hyung “Stellar” Lee’s departure, the Defiant can be affected by one player leaving.

We’ll have to wait and see how it ends up, but best of luck to Asher in his future.