The New York Excelsior announced on social media Wednesday that they were parting ways with starting support Seo “Myunb0ng” Sang-min — and due to what the team dubbed a “miscommunication,” Myunb0ng was not notified of his release prior to the team’s tweet.
“Today we say goodbye to Myunb0ng,” the Excelsior said in a post that has since been deleted. “We want to thank Myunb0ng for his dedication and hard work over the past year on the team, and we wish him success in all his future endeavors.”
Myunb0ng responded to the tweet with multiple question marks.
The Excelsior later released a statement confirming the embarrassing mistake.
“Today, we posted an announcement thanking Myunb0ng for his time with us,” the statement read, “however we failed to properly communicate with the team before this announcement was made. We take full responsibility and there are no excuses.
“To Myunb0ng, we are deeply sorry for our miscommunication and putting you through this situation. Although we wish this was communicated better, we truly appreciate your time with us and wholeheartedly want the best for you in your future endeavors.”
The statement concluded with a promise to Excelsior fans that they would not repeat the mistake and had “immediately changed our communication processes moving forward.”
— NY Excelsior (@NYExcelsior) August 10, 2022
Myunb0ng told his side of the story later Tuesday evening.
“I was notified during the team feedback session that I have been dropped from the org,” he tweeted. “It feels like I was suddenly dropped due to a mistake from the Social/Marketing team. The sudden news that was the result of a mistake from another department in the team, as well as not hearing anything regarding the possibility of me being dropped, feels very unwarranted.”
The Excelsior replaced Myunb0ng with fellow South Korean An “ANSOONJAE” Soon-jae, formerly of the Toronto Defiant.
Myunb0ng was New York’s starting support for the past eight months after a two-year stint with the Boston Uprising. But the Excelsior, standing at 1-11 this season, opted to make a change.
ANSOONJAE spent the past five months playing for Talon Esports. Before that, he was with the Defiant for close to 11 months until his release in October 2021.
The moves came one day before the Excelsior are scheduled to open OWL Summer Showdown qualifying Thursday with a match against the Houston Outlaws.
–Field Level Media