NLaaeR retires from Overwatch League

Following his departure from Atlanta Reign earlier this month, DPS Ilya “NLaaeR” Koppalov has announced that he will retire from Overwatch League.

Making his official statement via Reddit, NLaaeR says the decision to retire from the league stems from disagreements the player had with Atlanta Reign’s coaching staff, particularly the team’s head coach Brad “Sephy” Rajani, while also stating Blizzard’s reaction to player feedback, or lack thereof, was also a motivating factor factor.

NLaaeR disclosed that much of his motivation for the sport was tampered by the team’s head coach over the course of the 2019 season. The player also stated that there was a lack of communication throughout much of the organization regarding the status of his contract with the team, citing that head coach Sephy allegedly told the player that the team was planning to renew his contract for next season, but didn’t receive any official clarification from Reign’s front offices regarding the issue. Later in his Reddit post, NLaaeR also said that the Atlanta-based team provided him with only a few days notice prior to his official release and gave the player no time to tryout or potentially get picked up by another Overwatch League team.

Head coach Brad “Sephy” Rajani added a comment to the Reddit post stating, “It was 100% our intention to resign Nlaaer until we were able to secure Sharp at the very last minute.” Sephy also added that he “personally reached out to six team’s on NLaaeR behalf.”

While it’s unclear what NLaaeR plans to do in the meantime, it sounds as if he’s a little fed up with the politics involved with the sport. NLaaeR marks the fourth player to announce their retirement from esports in the past 30 days, as Wolf announced his retirement from League of Legends yesterday citing mental health issues, alongside Dallas Fuel DPS Dylan “aKm” Bignet and former Washington Justice support player Riley “Fahzix” Taylor announcing their retirements from professional esports player earlier this month for personal reasons.