Saebyeolbe, Anamo, And Libero Part Ways With The NYXL And Why That's Okay
It's autumn, that bittersweet season again. Spring and summer's performative dance of water and sunlight that we call trees had enough for this year. It's time to shake things off, leaves falling, ready to fertilise the ground through which new beauty can grow. Much like Overwatch League teams, trees are looking to survive this particularly harsh winter and add another ring next year. Much like leaves, the sacrifices of the greatest players of a generation will nurture another cycle of buds in the next year. Some stories need to end for others to prosper. Just like we can't take a stapler to a tree and its leaves to maintain its crown, we can't force stories like the one of the great core of the New York Excelsior to go on forever no matter how much we cling.
The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. - Alan Watts
And so the NYXL have announced the departure of Jong-ryeol "Saebyeolbe" Park, Hae-seong "Libero" Kim, and Taesung "Anamo" Jung, marking the perceived end of an era. During the first season, NYXL became the team to beat, not least due to the big boss. In the second season, they topped their division but once more couldn't access their full potential during the season playoffs. Despite the perceived underachievement when it mattered the most, I have a hunch that isn't the story that will stick with us through the years. Rather, it is one of devotion to a craft, to the creation of awe-inspiring moments, performed excellence at their best, holding each other up hands entwined at moments of struggle. It couldn't be forever.
There it lies, the leafed legacy of the first core of the New York Excelsior on the cold ground, ready to be reabsorbed by a new generation of players, carrying what this team has brought to the Overwatch League. Perhaps these players can carry their qualities to other teams and enrich them as well but it will never be the same. It shouldn't be.
Farewell and thank you for what you as a unit have given to this scene.
Image via Blizzard Entertainment
