Krystal Is Back In The Overwatch League With Guangzhou Charge

The Guangzhou Charge signs Cai “Krystal” Shilong as a two-way player, a year after his ban from the Overwatch League.

The Guangzhou Charge made an unexpected signing: former Hangzhou Spark player Cai “Krystal” Shilong joins the Charge on a two-way contract.

We’d like to welcome Krystal to the team as a two-way player. This talented player previously played for @HangzhouSpark, T1W in Chinese Contenders, as well as winning the silver medal in the 2018 #OWWC. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/WyBrR3Oj7f

— Guangzhou Charge (@GZCharge) July 14, 2020

Will Shilong fail the Guangzhou Charge as he did with the Hangzhou Spark?

Last year, the player was permanently banned by his team, the Hangzhou Spark, for his inappropriate behavior. The player violated his contract several times, not showing up in scrims or failing to reply to his team when going AWOL in China.

The fire really took off when the player asked for a 10-day break to go back to China to see his ill mother, and then posted pictures of himself and his family having fun in theme parks. Moreover, the player refused to come back to his team after his 10-day break, refusing to answer Spark’s calls.

According to the team, Shilong also faked injuries to miss team practice, disrupted the competitive environment during practices and delayed his U.S. arrival for the Overwatch League preseason.

Shilong’s behavior prevented the Hangzhou Spark from having a good team synergy, which greatly affected Spark's abilities. As a result, the team decided to permanently suspend Shilong from its roster. One year after these events, Shilong is officially released from the Hangzhou Spark.

A new chance in the Overwatch League

Despite his behavior, Shilong is a talented Overwatch player. The Guangzhou Charge is giving him one more chance to come back in the Overwatch League, as a two-way player. The player will mainly play in the Overwatch Contenders, with Guangzhou Charge’s academy team: Ignition One.

Shilong doesn’t have yet a place to play DPS in the current Guangzhou Charge roster. The team already has three damage players: Ou “Eileen” Yiliang, Jung-woo “Happy” Lee and Charlie “nero” Zwarg. However, this is the opportunity for him to show that he changed and deserve a second chance in the Overwatch League.

Zwarg commented on this signing, stating that the Guangzhou Charge wanted to sign Shilong as a two-way player in case of departure mid-season, so that the team always has the minimum amount of players to keep on practicing. As for himself, Zwarg is taking some time off, meaning Shilong might have more playtime than expected.