Free agents Graceful, Moffitt and Elkiea have found a home at MEGA Esports, joining the organisation at its team house in Thailand before the second season of the Pacific Championship. MEGA Esports are a new organisation in the South-East Asian scene, recently announcing the successful closing of their Series A financing round above the company’s initial target.
MEGA's newest players became free agents after North American teams Evil Geniuses and You Guys Get Paid? disbanded. Elkiea and Graceful both played for Evil Geniuses in the qualifiers of Contenders Season Zero North America. Graceful also played with PYYYOUR, who is now MEGA's coach, on Splyce, before the organisation took a step back from Overwatch in May of this year. Similarly, Moffitt joins the team after entering free agency following the death of You Guys Get Paid? who had made it to the group stages of Contenders NA before being eliminated.
MEGA recently acquired the all-Thai Overwatch roster from Fireball, participants in the first season of the Pacific Championship. Four members of the team also recently competed for Team Thailand in the World Cup Qualifiers hosted in Shanghai, advancing to the Round of 16 before being eliminated by Team China.
Graceful, Moffitt and Elkiea have made their way to MEGA's team house in Bangkok, Thailand. The team will train in preparation for the second season of the Pacific Championship, hosted in Blizzard's Taipei eStadium. MEGA will run a sister team alongside the main roster competing in the major event.
We got in touch with PYYYOUR, head coach of MEGA, to ask him a few questions about the team:
First of all congratulations on signing with MEGA Esports! Western players moving to the East to coach isn’t something we see often in Overwatch, what convinced you to join MEGA?
PYYYOUR: MEGA’s plans for the future fall in line with my own. The organisation is focused on bringing esports to a wider audience in the Oceanic region and I hope to be of aid in that process.
Obviously the big news is that Graceful, Moffitt and Elkiea are flying over to Bangkok to join the team before the second season of the Pacific Championship, did you play a part in recommending these players to the organisation?
P: Elk, Grace and Moffitt were three of my most highly recommended players. All have a good balance of skill and sense of professionalism.
How well do you think the new players will mesh with the original squad, do you expect the language barrier between the English and Thai speaking players to be a problem?
P: The language barrier is indeed a hurdle to be jumped in terms of team synergy. On the other hand, it’s also a positive, acting as a natural filter to extraneous information. Fundamentals will be our focus.
What are your expectations for the team in the Pacific Championship?
P: I expect the team to grow as people in the early stages of development. WIth the limited amount of time available to us it is important to set realistic goals. With some luck you will find us trading maps with the best the Oceanic region has to offer.
MEGA will field a sister team alongside the main squad, what are the plans for the sister team and how do you think this will benefit both of the rosters?
P: Teams that aim to be world class require an in house squad to compete against. In the future it will become vital to practice strategies internally and have a ‘farm system’ to train future talent. My focus will be on both squads, aiming to make every player an important part of the organization.
Thanks for your time PYYYOUR and good luck in OPC Season 2!
It is still unclear how the talent will be divided between the main and sister teams, but MEGA Esports now have the following players and staff signed:
- Ubon "oPuTo" Dara (DPS)
- Sasalak "NzNr" Wannara (DPS)
- Kevin "Moffitt" Moffitt (DPS)
- Chollatij "Nearlygod9th" Nongnuc (Flex)
- Martin "Graceful" Wongprom (Flex)
- Teetawat "Teetawatv3" Teerayosyotin (Tank)
- Vatunyoo "KeRLos" Suwannapisi (Support)
- Vuthichai "Rocket" Posawad (Support)
- Elijah "Elkiea" Gallagher (Support)
- Bradford "PYYYOUR" Ross (Coach)
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