PawN retires from professional LoL due to OCD

On September 28, talented midlaner Heo "PawN" Won-seok announced his retirement from professional League of Legends due to difficulties resulting from obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

The former Kingzone DragonX player made the announcement on his Facebook page in Korean. In it he apologised to fans, players and staff during this trying time for disappointing them. 

PawN went on to explain that he first noticed the condition in 2018 and promptly took a break to try and get better. His OCD prevented him from being able to play unless the game was setup in a very specific way. Following visits to therapists and mental clinics with no tangible results, he nearly quit at the time but decided to press on and compete in 2018 Worlds Championship. 

Fortunately for him, he discovered a setup he could work with and joined Kingzone DragonX. Together they finished the Spring Split without issues. However, his OCD struck once more, which prevented him from competing in the Summer Split. 

As a result of his condition, he stated that he can no longer play professionally and has now retired. The heartbreaking post was full of apologies to his fans and how he had let them down. 

PawN was known as the "Faker Killer" due to the composed manner in which he could shutdown SK Telecom T1's Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok in the LCK and OGN Champions. In 2014 he helped Samsung White take the Worlds Championship title and in 2015 he won the first Mid-Season Invitational for EDward Gaming. He also won 9 domestic titles for EDG in China, and qualified for the 2018 World Championship with KT Rolster. 

It's clear how torn up PawN is about his decision but thankfully, fans and colleagues have come out to share encouraging words with him. Especially since he has nothing to apologise for. We wish him a speedy recovery and maybe even a return to the game he loves so much.