Image: Ubisoft/Joao Ferreira
APAC North team SANDBOX Gaming today announced the exit of Song "SyAIL" Dong-seon ahead of next month's APAC Six Invitational 2023 closed qualifier.
The move comes after consecutive group stage exits at Six Majors for SANDBOX -- a third place group stage exit at the Berlin Major and a fourth-place exit at the recently-concluded Jönköping Major. It also follows a Charlotte Major miss and a last-place finish in their Six Invitational 2022 group.
SyAIL had been part of the Korean team since its Cloud9 days, having joined in Mar. 2020. He continued with them through the organization-less mantisFPS days, before the team found new representation with SANDBOX in Oct. 2021.
With the team, he attended two Six Invitationals and three Six Majors, with a peak in the quarter-finals at the Sweden Major in 2021.
SyAIL was consistently one of the poorest players on SANDBOX throughout the 2022 season, especially at international events. At the Berlin and Jönköping Majors, he had SiegeGG Ratings of 0.84 and 0.67, respectively, despite primarily playing Iana, Zofia, and Jaeger.
His APAC North SiegeGG Ratings were not much better, with a 0.98 in Stage 1, 0.95 in Stage 2, and 0.93 in Stage 3. This ranked him second-worst, worst, and second-worst on his team again, respectively.
He was, however, the best player on his team at the Six Invitational this year -- but only with a SiegeGG Rating of 0.94. This follows a sharp drop in form from his first two years on the team, when he was considered to be one of the most dangerous Korean players in the game.
While no official reason for the move was stated in the public announcement, it is likely this was performance-related ahead of the APAC Six Invitational 2023 closed qualifier next month. SANDBOX will be up against tough opposition in Dire Wolves, FURY, Knights, and Fnatic, with more teams apparently also part of that qualifier.
It is unclear who SANDBOX will be replacing SyAIL with, but the recent implosion and effective disbanding of Spear Gaming gives them a pick of players such as Park "Mephi" Ju-wan.
SiegeGG is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more about how readers support SiegeGG.