Rainbow retires from professional Warcraft

Tae In “Rainbow” Kim of Mortal Team Work announced his retirement from competitive Warcraft III today, freeing up time for him to focus on other activities.

Kim 21, was one of few professional human players to emerge from South Korea. Kim made his mark predominantly in South Korea, racking up three 4th place finishes in MBCGame World War II during 2006, at the World E-Sports Games III during 2005 and in the MBC Sonokong Prime League III in 2003.

Kim spent the tail end of his career with Mortal Team Work where unfortunately very little was accomplished. The team was able to attend the NGL ONE finals last season in light of Four Kings dissolution, but a very poor performance cast doubt over the teams potential.

Mortal Team Work’s management recently overhauled the team by bringing in four ex-Beijing E-sports Team players, turning them overnight into a force to be reckoned with. Mortal Team Work have just recently qualified for the WC3L and placed high enough in NGL ONE to guarantee them another seasons competition, making the timing on Kim’s retirement somewhat unusual.

21 is when many professional players often peak, usually not retiring until at least the age of 23. As is often the case, other aspects have taken precedent over Kim’s professional career and that appears to be the deciding factor in his decision.

Mortal Team Work have made mention that they have not yet finalized the roster meaning they could well be picking up another player. DoOrDie, formerly WICKED e-Sports, have a handful of very talented and available players, it’s quite possible Mortal Team Work could be courting one or more of them.

A statement from Mortal Team Work in German is available here.