Pine became a legend in the league for the sheer amount of raw skill he displayed on DPS heroes like McCree and Widowmaker.
New York would sub him in almost exclusively on Control Point maps during season one where he would go on a tear with McCree or one of his other favorite heroes before dutifully returning to the bench for the next map.
The Big Boss bows out
His DPS play in Season One is the stuff of OWL legend and fans quickly crowned the former Team Fortress 2 pro as the “Big Boss” of the Excelsior.
Even though he was a fan favorite, changes in the professional meta saw Pine stay on the New York bench for the majority of Season Two.
On December 6, 2019, the NYXL officially announced that the era of the Big Boss had finally come to an end in the Overwatch League.
The Big Boss is retiring. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank @tf2pine for everything he's done for NYXL.
We're excited to announce that he'll continue to be part of our family as a streamer with @andbox_official. #EverUpward pic.twitter.com/AZjnkblRj2
— NY Excelsior (@NYExcelsior) December 6, 2019
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Even though Pine may have seen more of the bench than the stage in Season Two, the role he played in putting the Overwatch League on the map with his ridiculous and entertaining play during the Inaugural Season simply can’t be ignored.
The pro flat out denied that he would be transferring teams during a stream in September 2019 when he talked about his season two struggles, but he also referred to a “sad story” when he touched on his current status with NYXL at the time.
Even though he’ll be staying on as a streamer for the NYXL on Twitch (tf2PINE), it’s sad to see the man who singlehandedly provided some of the most entertaining moments from season one retire from professional play.
Pine now joins fellow former pros Brandon ‘Seagull‘ Larned, Felix ‘xQc‘ Lengyel and more as a full-time streamer after retiring from the league and based on the amount of fan support he had while playing he should have a large audience.
So let’s all equip our NYXL McCree skins we bought during the Inaugural Season when Pine was in full form and do our best to honor the Big Boss with some huge plays.
