Ryu steps down from Phoenix1 roster, replaced with Pirean

Phoenix1 announced on Friday that star mid laner, and five year competitive League of Legends veteran player Sangwook “Ryu” Yoo would be taking a step back from competitive play, to help combat burnout and improve his mental health.

Yoo, who first made a name for himself back in 2013 as the mid laner for the kt Rolster Bullets, has been the starting mid laner for Phoenix1 since the beginning of 2017. Before that, Yoo spent some time in Europe playing in the EU LCS for H2K Gaming, where he made the Quarterfinals at the 2016 World Championships.

Yoo will be replaced for the time being by returning player Junsik “Pirean” Choi, who left Phoenix1 at the beginning of 2017 to play with Team EnVy, where he was currently holding a substitute position. The change will take place immediately as Choi starts for Phoenix1 in their Friday match up against Cloud9.

In the same statement, Phoenix1 announced that they are promoting Bryan “Zzyto” Ybanez to the role of General Manager of the League of Legends team — Ybanez was formerly the Team Manager — and Tyler “TheAkiri” Perron to the role of Assistant Coach from the role of Head Analyst.