| Saebyeolbe | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Park in 2016 | |
| Personal information | |
| Name | 박종렬 (Park Jong-ryeol) |
| Born | (1995-12-23)December 23, 1995 (age 29) Seoul, South Korea |
| Career information | |
| Game | Overwatch |
| Playing career | 2016–2021 |
| Role | Damage |
| Number | 9, 56 |
| Team history | |
| 2016–2017 | LW Blue |
| 2018–2020 | New York Excelsior |
| 2021 | Seoul Dynasty |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Park Jong-ryeol (Korean: 박종렬; born December 13, 1995), better known by his online aliasSaebyeolbe, is a South Korean former professionalOverwatch player. In his prime, he was considered one of the world's bestTracer players. During his career, he played in theOverwatch League (OWL) for theNew York Excelsior andSeoul Dynasty and inOverwatch Apex for AIM Arrow and LuxuryWatch (LW) Blue.
A native ofSeoul, South Korea, he began hisOverwatch career playing on South Korean amateur teams such as Team Square and AIM Arrow, and shortly after, he joined Park joined LW Blue, in 2016. In 2017, Park signed with the New York Excelsior for the league'sinaugural season. He reached all four stage finals in the season, winning two, and was named an OWL All-Star. After three seasons with the Excelsior, he signed with the Seoul Dynasty. In his first season with the Dynasty, all four of the Chinese teams of the OWL boycotted all events that Park was involved with after he criticized the lack of free speech imposed by the Chinese government. Having not played a match thereafter, Park retired on October 10, 2021.
Park represented South Korea at the2017 Overwatch World Cup, winning the title with the team that year. He again represented South Korea at the2018 World Cup, but he was replaced in the roster after advancing past the group stage.
Park's first team was Team Square, an amateur team that competed remotely, where he played with his damage partner Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun. Shortly after, he left the team and joined AIM Arrow, a team that attempted to qualify the South Korean tournament seriesOverwatch Apex.[2] He made his competitive debut in a 0–3 loss to Lunatic-Hai.[3]
In late 2016, Park joined LuxuryWatch (LW) Blue. and played in Season 1 of Overwatch Apex.[2][3] In December 2016, he played with LW Blue's sister team, LW Red, at theOverwatchIntel Extreme Masters Gyeonggi Invitational.[4] He and the team went on to win the tournament, defeating Lunatic-Hai in the finals by a score of 3–1.[5] Back with LW Blue thereafter, the team had their best performance in Apex Season 2. LW Blue defeated KongDoo Panthera in the season playoff quarterfinals behind a dominant performance by Park on thetankRoadhog.[6] The team facedRunAway in the semifinals on March 24, 2017; however, despite a strong performance by Park on Roadhog andTracer, the team lost, 2–3.[7] The team went on to defeat Meta Athena, 3–1, in the third-place match.[8]
In August 2017,ESPN reported that Sterling.VC, an investment fund backed bySterling Equities, had purchased the roster of LW Blue to compete in their New York franchise, later revealed as the New York Excelsior, for theinaugural season of theOverwatch League; Park was named the team's captain.[9][10] Park led the Excelsior to all four stage finals of the season,[11] winning two of them over thePhiladelphia Fusion, 3–2, in Stage 2 and theBoston Uprising, 3–0, in Stage 3.[12][13] However, Park's performance began to wane in Stage 4, as the meta in the league shifted from a fast-paced "dive" composition to favoring a double-sniper composition centered aroundHanzo andWidowmaker; Park was often benched thereafter for teammateKim "Pine" Do-hyeon.[14][15] The team finished with a league-best 34–6 record. New York received abye into the semifinals of theseason playoffs, where they faced thePhiladelphia Fusion in a best-of-three series. Park found playing time in the matches, but the Excelsior lost the first two series, 0–3 and 2–3.[16][17] At the end of the season, Park was named a starter for the2018 All-Star game.[18]
In the beginning of the2019 season, the composition that teams frequently ran was threetanks and threesupports (known as the GOATS meta). As adamage player, Park was on the bench for a majority Stage 1, playing a total of 13 minutes and 33 second for the entire stage.[19] Not finding much playtime in Stage 2 either, Park considered retiring, stating in an interview, "It felt like GOATS wasn't going to end. My best hero is Tracer, and when I couldn't play her anymore, I felt empty inside. I did think about quitting."[20] Park returned to the starting lineup inStage 3, when the team utilized him playing asSombra; New York had their best stage of the season, going a perfect 7–0. In Stage 4 of the season, the league implemented a role lock, forcing teams to play two tank, two damage, and two support heroes, and Park shifted to primarily play asReaper andBastion.[3][11] However, New York had their worst stage, going 3–4. In the playoffs, Park's Bastion play was solid, but his performance on Reaper was criticized; New York finished in third place after losing to theSan Francisco Shock, 0–4 in the lower bracket finals.[3]
Park did not get much playing time in the2020 season, often being benched due to themetas that were present, and he was released from the team after the end of the season.[21][22]
Park was picked up by theSeoul Dynasty in late November 2020.[23] On April 12, 2021, while streaming onTwitch, Park commented on his frustration in trying to appeal to a Chinese audience when he was streaming onDouYu, a Chinese streaming platform. Park said, translated to English, "I can't say Taiwan and [Hong Kong]. At all. They (China) don't recognize them as countries. I got into so much trouble for saying their names. Make it make sense. What are you talking about, 'One China?' So I objected to that and all the managers said, 'If you want to earn Chinese money, you have to become a Chinese dog.' So that's what I'm doing right now. I can even say, 'Thanks for subscribing' in Chinese. Aren't I good at Chinese?"[24] Two days after the comments, Park apologized via a handwritten note onInstagram. Nearly three weeks after the apology, the four Chinese teams of the Overwatch League — theShanghai Dragons,Chengdu Hunters,Hangzhou Spark, andGuangzhou Charge — announced that they would not participate in any Overwatch League event in which Park was present.[24] On May 6, the Overwatch League issued a statement announcing that the Chinese teams would no longer be boycotting Park nor the Seoul Dynasty.[25] Park did not appear in any matches thereafter.[26] After the conclusion of the 2021 season, on October 10, 2021, Park retired from professionalOverwatch.[27]
Park was selected as a member of Team South Korea for the2017 Overwatch World Cup.[28] He and Team South Korea went on to claim the World Cup title, defeating Team Canada, 4–1, in the finals on November 4, 2017.[29] Park was again selected as a member of seven-player Team South Korea for the2018 World Cup and was the only member on the roster who had previously represented South Korea at a World Cup.[30] After the team advanced past the group stage,Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun took over Park's spot on the roster due to undisclosed reasons.[31]
Park primarily playeddamage heroes, and he was often described as one of the bestTracer — a highly mobile character — players in the world.[27][32][33] Park's effectiveness on the hero came from his ability to quickly eliminate the enemysupport players, while being able to anticipate and outmaneuver any enemy Tracer players' actions. Park also showed patience when using Tracer's pulse bomb ability, an explosive that sticks to an opponent if thrown on them, often using it on the most threatening target in the fight or combining it with one of his teammates' abilities to maximize its value.[34] Although he showed proficiency in playing other heroes such asSombra andWidowmaker,[35] he was deficient in his ability to play a wide range of heroes.[36]
Park was born on December 13, 1995,[37] and was raised inSeoul, South Korea. His parents separated while when he was 11, and he and his sister lived with his mother thereafter. While he was in middle school, his mother pushed him in to bowling, and Park eventually became a professional bowler for four years.[38][39]
Park accumulated 5,000 hours of play in the video gameCounter-Strike: Global Offensive by the age of 17 and considered playing professionally, but instead, he began working as a barista. Shortly after, he left to complete hismandatory military service; however, he was discharged early after he broke his knee. With his physical abilities limited due to his injury, Park began playingOverwatch and began quickly ascending up the game'scompetitive ladder.[38][39] Park got married in late 2017, but three months after getting married, he moved to Los Angeles for theOverwatch League, while his wife stayed in South Korea,[40][41] although by June 2018, he and his wife lived together in an apartment.[42] During the OWL's first season, Park played with a picture of his wife next to his computer as a "good luck charm."[43]
Park threw the first pitch at the July 25, 2018,New York Mets game, becoming the first esports player to throw an opening pitch in a Major League Baseball game.[39][44] In May 2020,Andbox released acapsule collection around Park and his mantra of "Be nice"; less than one day after the launch, all but one article of clothing were sold out.[45]
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