Emongg sheds new light on Dafran’s original suspension from competitive Overwatch

Overwatch streamer and former pro player ‘Emongg’ has given some insight into the circumstances of Daniel ‘Dafran’ Francesca’s competitive ban in 2017.

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Dafran was suspended both from online play and from competing in Contenders 2017 seasons Zero and One for griefing and throwing games. Dafran was a player for Selfless at the time, alongside Emongg.

Though Dafran’s suspension happened over a year ago, the topic has come under the spotlight again after reports surfaced that he could be making a return to professional play, with Michael ‘mykL’ Padilla, another content creator and former pro, claiming that he has signed with the new Atlanta franchise.

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Dafran’s suspension came after a variety of offences, but the most prominent was a competitive match in the Overwatch Monthly Melee in which Dafran appeared to give up before the end of a game on Oasis, using his ultimate in spawn and jumping off of the map.

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On the surface, it appeared that Dafran was giving up on his team, some of whom were fighting at the control point. Emongg, however, gives another side of the situation, explaining that the team had in fact conceded the map by that point and were already discussing the next game.

While Emongg’s testimony doesn’t exonerate Dafran of all of the incidents that resulted in his suspension, it does cast a new light on what otherwise looks like the most serious.

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Dafran himself later admitted that much of his behavior was a deliberate attempt to escape playing competitively and that he had no desire to return to pro play. More recently, however, he stated that he might in fact be joining the Overwatch League.

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If Dafran is indeed to join the Overwatch League, his addition will also need to be approved by Blizzard – something of a question mark considering that it is believed that they removed him from the World Cup national committee vote due to his in-game behavior. Whether Blizzard would have any reservations about his addition to the league remains unclear.