Sandbox Gaming reveals substitute mid laner Justice will retire

Korean esports organization Sandbox Gaming announced that substitute mid-laner Yoon “Justice” Seok-joon would be retiring from League of Legends. Coaches Lim “Comet” Hye-sung and Lee “Dragon” Jun-yong have also had their contracts ended under mutual agreement.

Sandbox achieved 3rd place during the 2019 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Summer Split. However, the team didn’t manage to make it to the 2019 World Championships after a loss to Kingzone DragonX in the 2019 LCK Regional Finals.

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— Liiv SANDBOX (@LiivSANDBOX) October 25, 2019

SANDBOX Gaming mid-laner retires

“We have some sad news for you. Today we are announcing the retirement of Justice. And we ended the contract under [a] mutual agreement with Comet and Dragon,” commented SANDBOX Gaming in a statement on social media. “We would like to express our deep appreciation (to) them for their hard work at SANDBOX Gaming.”

Justice joined the roster in February of 2019, when SANDBOX Gaming was considered the second-best in the LCK. Justice had previously competed under Longzhu Gaming and the Jin Air Green Wings. While with the Green Wings, Justice sat on a substitute role with no playtime for several months  before joining Sandbox. The Jin Air Green Wings were recently relegated to the Challengers Korea (CK) league after a dead-last finish in the 2019 LCK Summer Split.

Similarly, Justice did not get any playtime on the organization’s starting roster, which was most likely the main reason for this move. Like many retiring professional esports players, he will focus on content creation before deciding what to do next. With the competitive level of the Korean League of Legends scene, players that cannot perform at a certain level must find other options. 

Who will replace Comet and Dragon?

In addition, SANDBOX Gaming announced the departure of coaches Comet and Dragon. The organization’s former Head Coach in Yoo “Sally” Eui-joon also left earlier this month. Kang “Laden” Byung-ho is the replacement in an Interim Head Coach role. No further details have been given on the replacements for the coaching staff in preparation for the 2020 League of Legends season.

The 2019 World Championships are currently in the Quarterfinals of the Knockout Stage. With all of North America eliminated, only the Chinese, Korean, and European teams are left. There are high hopes for LCK teams Griffin, SK Telecom T1, and DAMWON Gaming, along with LEC team G2 Esports, which all have a 5 wins and 1 loss match record. 

Following behind are LPL teams Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, along with LEC teams Splyce and Fnatic. However, it may not look good for the 2018 World Championship team Invictus Gaming as they face off against Griffin. Catch all the action Oct. 26 – 27 as the final four are determined and keep up with Daily Esports for all of your League of Legends coverage.