Det är lite mindre än två veckor sedan den svenska StarCraft-stjärnan Johan "NaNiwa" Lucchesi valde att lämna IEM Katowice, mitt under en match mot Choi "Polt" Seong Hun. Dagarna som följde var det många som spekulerade i att detta kunde vara slutet för Protoss-spelarens karriär.

Det dröjde en veckas tid innan informationen kom att NaNiwa skulle lämna sitt lag Alliance, men inget officiellt uttalande släpptes. Nu har lagets manager Kelly Ong Xiao Wei, mer känd som Kellymilkies gått ut med vad som har hänt och vad som kan ske i framtiden.

"We would like to officially announce today that we’re parting ways with Johan “NaNiwa” Lucchesi after over a year of service in our Alliance family."

"Johan is without a doubt an extremely dedicated, hardworking, and talented player and I certainly believe he still has a lot left in him as a professional. But with his decision to take a break for at least six months to pursue another game, it will no longer be possible for Alliance to keep him on our StarCraft II squad. However, if he were to decide to return to competitive StarCraft II again, we would love to sit down and discuss another future together."

NaNiwas lagkamrat, den sista återstående Alliance-spelaren Rickard "SortOf" Bergman gav även några rader ihop med Alliance Dota 2-stjärna Jonathan "Loda" Berg.

SortOf

"Over the last year or two I’ve gotten to know Johan quite well. The community sees a lot of negative stuff around him which I think is sad. From my perspective there are a lot of good things about Johan and he’s one of the pro gamers I have the most respect for. Nothing is black and white and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do from here."

Loda


"When me and Johan just joined Alliance, I didn’t really know the guy and I did not know what to expect. But after being on the same team with him for over a year, I have grown to respect him immensely and I have really got to see that he is a true competitor and he takes his game very seriously. In person he has never been anything but extremely respectful and friendly and I have come to realize that I will miss cheering for this boy."