Atlanta Reign Part Ways With 6 Players

Ahead of the 2021 Overwatch League season, the Atlanta Reign have released 6 players from their roster, with a further announcement expected shortly regarding their replacements. The team has parted ways Garrett “Saucy” Roland, Park “Pokpo” Hyun-jun, Joon “Erster” Jeong, Dusttin “Dogman” Bowerman, Nathan “frd” Goebel and Anothony “Fire” King, following what was a hugely disappointing campaign for the Reign.

The Atlanta Reign was knocked out at the quarter final stage of the May Melee, Summer Showdown and Countdown Cup, with the team having failed to find any form of consistency during the 2020 season. Their poor form was similar during the regular season, finishing in 12th place thanks to a 10-11 losing record. Meanwhile, it perhaps came as little surprise that that team made such drastic changes.

Why the Atlanta Reign Released Such Players

Dogman is perhaps the most high-profile departure for the Reign, with the 22-year-old having acted as starting support for the team for the majority of the year. The American also appeared on many Overwatch League broadcasts for the team during the campaign, having been at Atlanta in both 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, Erster and Pokpo had received promotions from the Korean Contenders roster in the build-up to the 2019 season, with the former having arrived from Lucky Future Zenith, while the latter previously represented Element Mystic. Pokpo played numerous times for Atlanta, mainly because of his skills with his Winston hero, however fellow main tank Blake “Gator” Scott should be in a position to fill his shoes.

What the Future Holds for the Atlanta Reign

Saucy had been promoted to the main Reign roster from the ATL Academy, having initially been drafted in to fill the void left by Andrej “Babybay” Francisty, who now plays in the Valorant scene. Having failed to live up to expectations, fans will not have been surprised to see Saucy leave the team. Elsewhere, frd arrived at Atlanta half way through the 2019 season, with the D.Va specialist having played when hero rotation did not suit the needs of starting off tanker Xander “hawk” Domecq.

Finally, Fire was a rookie this last season, having been signed back in January. He played the support role as both Lucio and Brigitte. Having released so many players, there is plenty of space for new talent to arrive before the start of the 2021 Overwatch League season.