As of this past weekend, Dallas Fuel has released head coach Kyle “KyKy” Souder and player Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim from the Overwatch League team. And the changes will be effective immediately.
According to the Fuel’s Monday morning press release, assistant coach Emanuel “Peak” Uzoni will be taking the position as interim head coach. To assist the team in this transition, Kang “Vol’Jin” Min-Gyu of Meta Gaming in Korea will be joining the coaching staff as well. Negotiations are still underway for the position of head coach, but the Fuel should have a coach by next week.
Mike Rufail, owner of the Dallas Fuel and Team Envy, wrote:
We will always appreciate Kyle’s commitment to this organization. He is a true competitor who coached our team through a great run and a Contenders championship; unfortunately, we have not replicated that championship level of success in the Overwatch League this season. While we recognize many of the challenges Kyle faced with the Dallas Fuel were beyond his control, there comes a time when change is necessary for the team to move forward and we felt that time is now…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpCoUjAv1To
After the inconsistent gameplay from the Fuel since Stage 1, Souder’s release doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, Dong-jun “Rascal” Kim’s release was unexpected. Rascal, a DPS transfer from the London Spitfire, played a handful of rounds in Stages 2 and 3. Rufail stated, ‘[Rascal’s] commitment to the team did not meet our expectations and his unwillingness to communicate with the team while playing in recent matches became a large distraction.”
Over the past few weeks, Dallas Fuel’s roster has undergone many changes after the switching Scott “Custa” Kennedy for the LA Valiant’s Benjamin “uNKOE” Chevasson and the recent addition of Son ‘OGE’ Min-Seok. All Fuel fans can do now is hope that these changes will continue to better the team’s performance.
What are your thoughts? Any Dallas Fuel fans out there? Let us know in the comments below!
