The LoL pro and former world champion Heo “PawN” Won-Seok (22) has announced that he is ending his career as a professional player in League of Legends . He says he suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that he cannot control. His setup has to be exactly how he wants it. He thought he could manage it – but he can’t.
This is the situation: PawN is considered an outstanding midlaner in League of Legends. However, he has not played a game for his team, King-Zone Dragon X, in Korea for the past six months. They had a mediocre season without him and failed to qualify for the Worlds 2019.
Until now, it was thought that PawN was out due to back problems. But that is not the case.
The setup had to be just how he wanted it
PawN says now: PawN states in a statement on Facebook that he is sorry it took so long for the statement regarding his hiatus to be released.
But he was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder in 2018: He could not play League of Legends at all if he did not have exactly the setup he wanted.
He underwent therapy, visited several clinics, but nothing worked.
He had already thought about quitting but wanted to try one last time to make it to the Worlds 2018. At that time, he was still playing for KT Rolster, a top team in Korea.
At that time, he found a setup that satisfied him. He thought everything would be okay. He then started playing for Kingzone Dragon X in 2019 and completed the spring split without problems.
But when the season started again in the summer, he did not expect that OCD would catch up with him again in a different way and so suddenly.
He is sorry that he disappointed the fans and the team this way, but he no longer believes he can continue as a professional.
What kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder is this? PawN says he suffers from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).
People who suffer from it feel an inner compulsion to think or do certain things. They cannot resist this compulsion.
Even though this is often humorously depicted in comedy series, it results in a lot of distress for those affected.
PawN was already a world champion at a young age
Who is PawN? PawN is regarded as an outstanding midlaner in recent years when he was fit. His plays with LeBlanc provided material for highlight clips.
PawN played for several professional teams from China and South Korea in the midlane. He made a name for himself in 2013 as “Faker’s Kryptonite” because he managed to take down the superstar Faker in the lane solo. This usually did not happen.
His strongest season in terms of results was in 2014 when he was the youngest member of Samsung White. The team won the world championship in League of Legends with him as a midlaner.
Reason for leave: “Back problems”
In the following years, PawN played for Edward Gaming, KT Rolster, and most recently for Kingzone Dragon X. However, in recent months he took a break from professional LoL. He did not play the last split in Korea at all. Officially, it was said that PawN had back problems.
Without PawN, Kingzone Dragon X could not convince with their substitute player and finished the Korean LoL league with mediocre results.
PawN was asked in an interview in 2014 if he was a robot because he seemed so emotionless. He said no, he was human. He just turned on the robot mode when playing.
He ends his career at the age of 22.
