GamersOrigin has been involved in the Overwatch scene for almost a year now with full French rosters. With their anniversary and European Contenders in sight, the team decided to make some roster switches and split with two of their longest-standing players, Narwak and Leaf.
The former DPS duo had been with GamersOrigin since its entry into Overwatch in June 2016, when the organisation signed brOverwatch, a French team notably containing Quake and Shootmania legend Strenx. One year later, Narwak and Leaf were the sole surviving members of that original roster as the team endured necessary chopping and changing to keep pace in Overwatch.
GamersOrigin flourished with their roster in the tank meta but looked to have difficulty adapting to dive; they nevertheless remained on top of the main French scene - as Rogue competed elsewhere - and had deep runs in a number of European tournaments.
With Contenders qualifiers on the horizon, Leaf announced on Twitter that he was stepping down from the roster, shortly followed by Narwak’s announcement as the team released him.
Bienvenue à @godixxyDix et @Gozykk dans la line-up #Overwatch de GamersOrigin ! pic.twitter.com/HdGRq7rlSQ
— GamersOrigin (@GamersOrigin) 10 June 2017
The two new players drafted in by GamersOrigin to replace them were zYKK and DixxyDix, a DPS duo from fellow French side Shooting Stars. The two new players were announced shortly before competing in the Contenders EU Qualifier 1, and games showed that their hero pools fit naturally into GamersOrigin.
GamersOrigin were brought to a halt on the first day of qualification by Bazooka Puppiez however and they were forced to queue up again. On the second and final day, GO found themselves in a bracket that pit them head-to-head with IceBlockGG, another French team that they had recently overcome in the finals of DreamHack Tours.
They managed to repeat the feat in a tight 2-1 match, storming through the rest of the bracket to assassinate Ninjas in Pyjamas and Ninjas With Attitude. They were eventually stopped in the final by Cyclowns, a result that the new roster can be proud of going into groups.
GamersOrigin will have to do more ninja-slaying to make it out of Contenders Group C. They are with NiP, Vivi’s Adventure, and Team Singularity Ninjas - the French side has a strong chance of making it through to playoffs.
The new GamersOrigin roster is:
- Thomas ”zYKK” Hosono (DPS)
- Jérémy ”DixxyDix” Chaffraix (DPS)
- Gael ”Poko” Gouzerch (Flex)
- Benjamin ”BenBest” Dieulafait (Tank)
- Damien ”Hyp” Souville (Support)
- Martin ”Noki” Cornet (Support)