Shanghai Dragons, Philadelphia Fusion drop staff

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The Overwatch League offseason has only just begun and more staff changes are happening.

The Shanghai Dragons and the Philadelphia Fusion have both dropped key staff just days after the Houston Outlaws released two coaches. With the 2020 season on the horizon, many teams are looking to make changes.

Shanghai announced the departure of head coach Wi “BlueHaS” Seong-hwan and assistant coach Jeong “Levi” Chung-Hyeok earlier today. BlueHaS was a coach for KongDoo Panthera in Overwatch Contenders Korea. Many Kongdoo players were added to the Shanghai Dragons roster before the start of season two and BlueHaS joined them. Levi formerly coached Element Mystic, another successful Contenders Korea team.

This is an unexpected change from the Shanghai Dragons since the team made monumental strides during the second season of the Overwatch League. After the Dragons won no games in the inaugural season of the league, the team was restructured and new talent was brought in. In season two, Shanghai managed to win a stage championship and made it to the postseason, finishing in 11th place.

The Philadelphia Fusion also lost a key employee today in Yann “Kirby” Luu. Kirby was the head coach of the Fusion during the inaugural Overwatch League season, in which they faced off against the London Spitfire in the 2018 grand finals. Kirby has acted as the director of Overwatch operations for the Fusion this year, though.

While the Fusion finished in 10th place and made it to the postseason in 2019, the run was a far cry from their success in the first Overwatch League season.

While all teams prepare to move to their home cities for the 2020 Overwatch League season, expect more changes to be made to staff and rosters before the end of the year.