Tempo Storm's North American roster has gone through some changes in the two months since they signed. Back then they were a fresh amalgam of Northern Gaming and Sea Algae players and still hadn't settled on a sixth, but they would later pick up another Sea Algae alumnus Bdropped to fill the flex position.

In recent weeks Ian "BreadExpert" Chaplin parted ways with the team and the organisation in unexplained circumstances, leaving a vacant support spot. Tempo had been playing with spOh (yet another Algae man) in October's Alienware Monthly Melees. So when I made an innocent enquiry today as to who would be fielded tonight in the November iteration of the tournament I was not expecting revelations.

Talking to the team's DPS Liam "Mangachu" Campbell he informed me that he was "probably not playing" and on further questioning revealed that the team is "experimenting with a bunch of rosters and since mini got back from French Polynesia (2 days) they've scrimmed with yuki/HeyKaytie".

In a move that he attributes to team owner, Andrey "Reynad" Yanyuk, Tempo Storm have extended the stay of two members of the Australian Overwatch World Cup team, yuki and HeyKatie, in California. The key omission here being that they are already contracted by and play in Tempo's Australian Overwatch roster. So a potential intercontinental internal switcheroo is being seriously considered.

The reshuffled roster that sees Mangachu sidelined also sees Bropped move from flex to support and YouMustHooey from DPS to flex, making way for the Aussie DPS duo. This week has marked the return to scrims for many professional teams in the wake of BlizzCon and the Overwatch World Cup, so there have only been two days of practise available to this newborn line-up.

On Twitter yuki confirms that he has been playing from the Esports Arena in Santa Ana (also site of the Agents Rising launch tournament back in May) and that he has been scrimming. The potential new roster will make its competitive debut tonight against Splyce, Kingdom eSports and Team Liquid in Group B of the Alienware Monthly Melee November.

Tantalisingly, this is not the only roster Tempo Storm are currently experimenting with. When I wanted to clarify with Mangachu if he was being replaced he responded cryptically, "In that roster yes". He went on to assert that they have up to five potential rosters featuring other players, but he wouldn't be drawn on their names.

For now we can only speculate as to what the future holds for both Tempo Storm NA (and AU), but it is clear that the organisation are ready to make big changes in light of patchy results that crucially saw them miss out on qualification for MSI MGA and DreamHack Winter, and future prospects like Blizzard's Overwatch League.

The new Tempo Storm experimental roster is:

  • David "NapTime" Fox (Support)
  • Ryan "Bdropped" Aponte (Support)
  • Rollon "Mini" Hamelin (Tank)
  • Estevao "YouMustHooey" Gama (Flex)
  • James "yuki" Stanton (DPS)
  • Jackson "HeyKatie" Taylor (DPS)