One of Overwatch’s most beloved veteran pro players, Terence “SoOn” Tarlier, is moving on to VALORANT. In an April 14 Twitter post, SoOn said his time in competitive Overwatch has come to an end after five years. In that post, he says he is switching to VALORANT in hopes of starting a new career.
Au revoir, SoOn. Thank you for all you gave Overwatch. Image via Robert Paul for Blizzard.
Another Fresh Start
SoOn compared his departure to VALORANT to when he first switched to Overwatch, coming over from ShootMania. He started competing in Overwatch when it was released in May 2016 and played for Misfits a month later. This was back in the pre-League days when organizers like ESL, DreamHack, and others hosted tournaments. This was when players were playing directly for esports organizations rather than OWL franchises.
With Misfits, his incredible hitscan DPS play on heroes like Widowmaker, Tracer, and McCree was vital to their success. The team won one of the first big Overwatch tournaments in the Overwatch Open organized by ELEAGUE and Faceit. After another successful stint with Rogue, he joined the Los Angeles Valiant in the inaugural Overwatch League season. But before that, he represented his home country of France in the 2017 World Cup, helping them finish 4th.
The Valiant was one of the top teams in the league during the first season. It finished second in regular-season standings and reaching the semifinals of the playoffs. During that season, SoOn amassed eight match MVP awards, tied for sixth overall along with Saebyeolbe. For season two, he went home and signed with a new expansion team, Paris Eternal.
SoOn got to represent his home country in both OWL play and the World Cup. Image via Joshua Roberts for Blizzard Entertainment.
After a disappointing first season, the Paris Eternal improved after aquiring several young talents from Korea, mostly from Contenders champions Element Mystic. The team finished fourth overall at the end of the regular season. But it bounced early from the playoffs when OWL resumed. In late 2020, SoOn signed with Boston Uprising for the 2021 season but was released before the season began due to visa issues. In a Twitter post after that announcement, SoOn said he was still months away from acquiring a visa and that he wasn’t able to play from home. He said then if he was unable to find an OWL team to play for, he would leave for VALORANT.
Regarded as one of the most prolific, consistent, and underrated Overwatch players ever, he joins a growing list of former OWL pros that have swapped to VALORANT. The most prominent group of players is the majority of the FaZe Clan roster, consisting of Babybay, corey, ZachaREE, and Rawkus. Other French Overwatch pros have found success as well, like HyP with Entropiq and aKm with OG.
SoOn is one of the original Overwatch greats, a proven winner with a long successful track record. The VALORANT professional scene isn’t easy to master, but prolific hitscan DPS players have the talent needed for the new game. For Overwatch fans, this is “unlucky, as we say, but this is life, and we must keep moving forward.”
