Atlanta Reign's Daco on His Recent Overwatch League Drama

Atlanta Reign’s dominant off-tank, Dong-Hyeong “Daco” Seo has found themselves in the spotlight in recent weeks. Some people sang his praises, citing his aggressive D.Va play as a key factor in the Reign’s stomping of the New York Excelsior. Others pointed to a recent report that claimed he had been benched for the first two weeks of Overwatch League’s Stage Two due to behavioral issues. We decided to sit down with the Daco find out more about the player behind the stories.

Daco joked that he started playing Overwatch competitively because it was the only game he was good at. Originally playing for Apex and Contenders powerhouse, Element Mystic, he made his way to the Atlanta Reign roster just prior to Season 2. With the assistance of a translator, it became very apparent that Seo didn’t feel much pressure moving onto the bigger stage, “Other than the part where everyone else speaks English, I don’t think there’s a big difference between Overwatch Contenders and Overwatch League.”

Appearing in 10 of the 14 games that the Reign has had so far this Season, Daco’s absence for the first two weeks of Stage Two was noticed by many. One blog reported that the player had been benched due to negative behavior, being too harsh and judgemental about his teammates.

“I’m not going to respond to [the article in question]” Daco was translated as saying when asked in our interview. “Even me just playing on stage contradicts the whole report.”

“I think our team has a really bright atmosphere—especially in our comms,” he continued. “Everyone just tries to have fun during the match, as much fun as they can.”

Daco had responded similarly to the article on Twitter, which has since been taken down. Luckily, one Overwatch League community member captured the tweets, translating them. 

Daco on Twitter
“This is ridiculous
I just read it thru an online translator, I think it’s absurd that these kind of stories are just being made up” pic.twitter.com/d9xYM5jNkr

— Ana’s Tal Mask (@gatamchun) April 19, 2019

The report had presented Seo as a player with unrivaled confidence, and the air of a diva. During the interview, the player definitely played to that role, but with each line punctuated with a hearty laugh. In the time of Bumper emoting and Dogman feeding, Daco appeared more to be looking to establish himself as a personality rather than actually holding any of these ideas true. Perhaps—much like in Reign comms—this was just how Daco has fun.

For instance, when asked if he had been concerned about playing against the undefeated New York Excelsior after spending two weeks away from the game, he quickly and boisterously responded, “No, I never thought like that. Because I think I am one of the most mechanically skilled players in the Overwatch League.”

His response when asked about the emotions felt after defeating the NYXL echoed similar tones of calmness and cockiness, “[Winning was] nothing special. It was the same feeling I’ve had after winning any other game… I think they just had a bad day.”

What a day, what a game!

We decimate @NYXL with an absolute Masterclass in G.O.A.T.S. to take the series with a commanding 3-0!#OWL2019 | #LetItReign pic.twitter.com/EDoYR9augd

— Atlanta Reign (@ATLReign) April 20, 2019

Yet, his response to the current meta belied this personality, granting a little more insight into what actually resides behind the playful persona. “I like goats better than, like, 2-2-2,” he admitted, one of the only answers not immediately followed by a laugh. “If it was a Widow-Hanzo [meta], I’d get headshot twice and can’t do anything. But eating gravs is fun, booping people with D.Va is fun. I just feel that there’s more I can do in GOATs than 2-2-2.”

We look forward to seeing how Daco responds after the Atlanta Reign face off against New York again May 4th. Will the Atlantan underdogs be able to pull off another upset? According to Daco, it shouldn’t be an issue, as long as Atlanta does one thing.

“I should play for every match,” he said. “As long as the Atlanta Reign keeps playing me, then we’re good.”