INnoVation revealed on Ryung's stream that he will be beginning his mandatory military service in the near future, with the World Team League playoffs likely to be his final competitive event. According to INnoVation, he had received barely a month's notice on his exact enlistment date.
INnoVation said he was not considering a return to StarCraft II after completing his eighteen-month service, citing his age.
Too bad, it'll be weird not having him around, but it did seem like his motivation had diminished a lot. Hope he can go out with a bang in WTL at least.
Yea I mean, this was inevitable, a matter of when and not if. Not surprised though, Innovation has been way out of form for a little while now which means I'm sure he knew (despite the short notice) that mandatory enlistment was an any day thing and since of his age probably time to start moving on.
I'm okay with it, Innovation was so dominant for so long and gave us all so many amazing series, good luck to you in this next phase of life sir.
That's a name I'll dearly miss for sure, such a stable top contender for such a long time. Hope we see one last great Machine performance in the playoffs.
Also going to be interesting what KaiZi Gaming will/can do to replace him, as they'll be a player short come next season of WTL.
I thought Inno has another year before the mandatory time, but I guess its the right time for him. Will truly miss the machine himself and the amazing run in WESG 2019. Its also time for the new 4 Horsemen of Terran nomination.
Although this actually hits me less than some other military departures, it hasn’t felt for a while now that Inno is motivated enough to play at the level he’s shown at the past.
I’ll miss him and his smirk for sure, one of my favourite players but the prospect of The Machine continuing on his current trajectory into being just another good Terran is more painful to my sensibilities.
The best there ever was leave us. I wish him the best in the future, he clearly wasn't quite dedicated to SC2 in the last few years, but hopefully he can pop in from time to time after his military to say hello.