It was a crazy day on the Overwatch League transfer newsfront as a number of players say goodbye to their respective teams. With teams aiming to improve on their first season performances, it didn’t come as a surprise how some teams opted to start afresh in a bid do better in Season 2.

So it didn’t come as a surprise to see the Shanghai Dragons release eight of their players after going 0-40 last season. As confirmed on Twitter, the Shanghai Dragons have released a bulk of their squad, only retaining three players heading into the Overwatch League free agent market.

The Shanghai Dragons has released Altering，Freefeel，Fiveking，Roshan，Xushu，Ado，Sky and Daemin from their contracts with the team.
The entire SHD crew thank you for your dedications and contributions throughout the first season of the Overwatch League.

— Shanghai Dragons #TeamPacific (@ShanghaiDragons) September 2, 2018

However, their decision to release Ado was a peculiar one, considering that he performed quite well throughout the season in spite of his squad’s results. Brought in mid-season alongside Geguri, Fearless and Daemin (also released), we felt that the former DPS for RunAway was among the better performers in the Dragons squad. With that mass purge, the remaining Shanghai Dragons squad are Geguri, Fearless and Diya.

In other news, the Houston Outlaws released Winston main, Russel ‘FCTFCTN’ Campbell in their bid to strengthen their overall squad depth. Deputizing for Muma throughout most of the season, the lack of playtime may have led to FCTFCTN’s release or could just be that the Outlaws are looking for a more reliable tank backup.

Today we announce that we have parted ways with @FCTFCTN.

Thank you so much for your time here Russell. You were a great teammate and friend, and we wish you the best of luck moving forward. pic.twitter.com/yIocwwzMkI

— Houston Outlaws (@OutlawsOW) September 2, 2018

The biggest news of the day would be of the Philadelphia Fusion releasing DPS main, George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha alongside two other teammates, Joemeister and DayFly.

The Fusion have released Georgii “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha, Joe “Joemeister” Gramano, and Jeong-Hwan “DayFly” Park.

Our success in the inaugural OWL season could not have been achieved without their dedication. They will always be part of the Fusion family and we wish them the best.

— Philadelphia Fusion (@Fusion) September 2, 2018

After being relegated to the subs bench (earning him the nickname ‘Shadowbench’) due to the rise of Eqo as Fusion’s preferred DPS to pair with Carpe, leaving the Fusion was probably the best move for Georgii’s professional career. We believe he’s definitely a starter material in other teams. As for Joemeister and DayFly, their departure will be less felt, having contributed minimally throughout Fusion’s Grand Finals run.

I experienced an amazing year playing for @Fusion and I wanted to thank my teammates, management and every Philly fan who was always supporting me and making me happy. Thank you so much! pic.twitter.com/L43CpRjeJq

— George Gushcha (@SDBurnOW) September 2, 2018

Overwatch League teams have up til September 8th to renew the contracts of their current players failing which, will see them become free agents – able to sign with any professional teams for the upcoming season. For the period of between the 9th of September til 7th of October, the two new expansion teams will have dibs to sign these ‘free agents’ before free-agent signing window opens for all teams on October 8th.

To stay updated on the transfer news and player movements in the Overwatch League, head over here where we curated all the confirmed deals.