Stratus leaves competitive play to focus on content creation
Washington Justice DPS player Ethan “Stratus” Yankel will be stepping away from competitive Overwatch scene in a bid to pursue a career as a content creator, the 19-year old announced this Friday.
The announcement regarding Stratus' decision surfaced on Washington Justice's Twitter page, where the North American esports organisation unveiled their DPS player will play his final match under Justice's banner this weekend against the newly-formed Vancouver Titans, after which he will transition to a new role within the team.
"Our match this weekend will be Stratus' last one in the Overwatch League. While still a member of the Justice team, he'll be taking a step back from competitive play to focus on content creation," read the announcement.
"Please join us tomorrow to give him the amazing send-off he deserves!"
The news come shortly after Justice unveiled their star DPS and captain Corey "Corey" Nigra announced his retirement from the professional Overwatch scene in a bid to pursue a career in VALORANT.
Stratus has begun his Overwatch career in May 2017 with an American Overwatch team Prestige Worldwide, where he saw a fair amount of success in the Overwatch competitive scene, winning a handful of titles in some lesser tournaments. In September, Prestige Worldwide's Overwatch roster got picked up by Rockets Esports, where Stratus remained up until December when he and his teammate Albert "yeHHH" Yeh got picked up by NRG Esports, where Stratus got his first taste of Overwatch Contenders league.
Shortly after joining NRG, Stratus claimed a fifth-eight place finish at Overwatch Contenders 2018 Season 1: North America, to which he added a silver medal from BEAT Invitational – Season 4, gold from Overwatch PIT Championship – North America Season 3 and a top-four finish at Overwatch Contenders 2018 Season 2: North America.
In October 2018, Stratus left NRG to join the Washington Justice. Despite his immense skill on his signature Heroes in Pharah, Genji, Mei, Doomfist and Junkrat, which earned him renown as one of the best flex DPS players in the league, Stratus failed to see much success in the OWL, where Justice finished 17th with a disastrous 8-20 record.
Although his team failed to impress with their performances throughout the 2019 season, Stratus did not fail to entertain the crowds. He often garnered attention from the fans due to his positive behaviour and entertaining personality, which made him one of the crowd favourite players in the league.
Stratus will remain a part of Justice's Overwatch team as a content creator, as revealed by the North American esports organisation. He already made his first steps in becoming a content creator for his team during offseason, when Stratus created humorous content on his social media pages, meaning the transition will be a smooth one.
Since Stratus is moving away from competitive play and Corey recently retired, Washington Justice are now left with only one DPS player on the roster, Lee “TTuba” Ho-sung. What's more, with two players leaving the active roster in only a couple of days, Justice now field only six players in Yeonjoon "ArK" Hong, Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd, Gye "rOar" Chang-hoon, Lee "TTuba" Ho-Sung and Minseok "AimGod" Kwon, which is below the seven-player roster minimum, meaning Justice will have to act quickly and add more players to their squad.
