Late on August 7, the Toronto Defiant Overwatch League team announced the firing of their head coach Beom-joon “Bishop” Lee on Twitter.
“Our coaches Matthew “Optidox” Sims, Sungbo “Mobydik” Shim, and Dennis “Barroi” Matz will take over coaching responsibilities for the remainder of the season,” the Defiant said.
“Head Coach Beoumjun “Bishop” Lee has been relieved of duties, effective immediately. We thank him for his contributions,” they announced.
The dismissal came the week after the team was knocked out of possible playoff contention and lost to the Philadelphia Fusion on August 4.
No further details were provided by the Defiant. Dexerto reached out to the team’s general manager Jaesun Won via Twitter, but did not receive a response.
Our coaches Matthew “Optidox” Sims, Sungbo “Mobydik” Shim, and Dennis “Barroi” Matz will take over coaching responsibilities for the remainder of the season. Head Coach Beoumjun "Bishop" Lee has been relieved of duties, effective immediately. We thank him for his contributions.
— Toronto Defiant (@TorontoDefiant) August 8, 2019
Bishop responds to firing
The now ex-coach posted a Twitlonger message cryptically titled “2/2/2 goats”.
Read More: Overwatch may have already found its “new GOATS”
“It pains me to say that I will be parting ways with the Toronto Defiant- an amazing team that has been my home and family for a year. I thank the team for giving me the opportunity to coach again, especially after being out of the pro scene due to family reasons,” the post said.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“Despite the ups and downs this season, I firmly believe that the Toronto Defiant have the potential to finish stage 4 strong and become a top team in season 3 under the outstanding leadership of Overactive Media,” Bishop added.
The former Toronto and London coach then stated he would be taking a pause from coaching for the time being.
“As for me, I think I’ll take a little break and pursue alternate career opportunities. Embracing who I am and doing what I enjoy- interacting with the gaming community,” he wrote before revealing he was terminated on his birthday of all things.
“Happy 30th birthday to myself, and thank you all for making this possible! Looking forward to the day I can say hi to everyone again :)”
What’s odd is that the Twitlonger’s title and its contents don’t really add up. 2-2-2 GOATS is what is some are calling the dominant Reaper Mei composition used by teams in stage 4 since role lock was introduced.
Former Florida Mayhem coach Vytis ‘Mineral’ Lasaitis made a whole video discussing the comp’s strengths and has been a hot topic in the pro community.
It will be interesting to see how the general playerbase reacts or utilizes the strength of Reaper-Mei once role-queue goes live on August 13.