After a wildly dominant 2021 season in the Overwatch League, it’s likely not surprising the Shanghai Dragons won’t be making many roster moves before 2022 begins.
The Dragons revealed the contract statuses of its remaining players on Oct. 4 and confirmed that eight players from the 2021 championship team would be returning next season.
Shanghai exercised a team option on five players, including DPS Kim “Fleta” Byung-sun, DPS Lee “WhoRU” Seung-jun, off-tank Kang “Void” Jun-woo, main support Lee “LeeJaeGon” Jae-gon, and flex support Chengzhi “Molly” He.
Three players, including main tank Koo “Fate” Pan-seung, flex support Kim “Izayaki” Min-chul, and Grand Finals MVP Lee “LIP” Jae-won, are still formally under contract for Shanghai.
By enacting a “team option” on a player, the Shanghai Dragons can add an extra year to the player’s expiring contract. Thanks to this roster construction rule, teams can have the first claim over players before they become free agents.
Rookie Chae “Develop” Rak-hoon was the only player let go from Shanghai’s roster. Two assistant coaches, Kim “JFeel” Jeong-min and Shin “Dongsu” Dong-soo, were also released from the team so they could pursue careers in head coaching.
Throughout 2021, the Shanghai Dragons were the most dominant team in the Overwatch League. The team took home two tournament titles in a row and eventually rolled through the upper bracket of the postseason to earn the 2021 title.
