Whilst the public’s attention might be focused on the players potentially signing with Overwatch League teams, each franchise is also busy fine tuning their support staff. Both Team Seoul and Los Angeles’ own Immortals have made recent coaching additions as the commencement of the League draws ever closer.
Team Seoul signs Kim "nuGget" Yo-han as coach. nuGget comes from a Quake 3 background and has previously coached MVP Space and MVP Infinity. pic.twitter.com/BXqByL8wfM
— Young Jae Jeon (@RallyJaffa) September 13, 2017
Team Seoul have picked up nUGget from Korean esports organisation MVP. Whilst MVP Space and MVP Infinity have not been known for their high placements in previous seasons of APEX and Challengers, they have been generally well respected for making the most of their available talent under nUGget's watchful eye. Seoul's new coach is the franchises' first public signing since acquiring Lunatic-Hai in August after the team secured back-to-back APEX Championships.
On the Western front Immortals also announced their signing of Cuddles, the former coach of Counter Logic Gaming. Cuddles also spent time with PENTA as a coach before the players and staff went their separate ways. He will be taking up an Assistant Coach role for his new organisation. Despite the failures of the current Immortals line-up in Contenders Season One, the management has maintained that its focus is on long-term success in the Overwatch League.
Cuddles had this to say in Immortal's official announcement
“I’m pleased to be joining the Immortals Overwatch team, I have immense respect for the players, staff and the work they’ve all achieved.” “It will be a pleasure to be working alongside Ookz and Mins while achieving success as a team under the Immortals banner. I will be making sure the team is training hard and taking big strides to be on top leading up to the Overwatch League. Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey so far, I look forward to what the future holds.”
Only 40 days remain until the signing period ends for players competing in the inaugural season of the much-anticipated Overwatch League. As an avalanche of news and rumors continues to pour in over the coming months, more and more teams will reveal the support staff they hope will help to bring in a significant slice of the $3.5 million prize pool.