The avalanche of Overwatch League reveals has continued, with the league's New York franchise unveiling its roster and branding. The team will compete as the New York Excelsior, NYXL for short, a reference to the state's motto which means 'ever upward'.

The Excelsior had this to say about their name and branding:

"Excelsior” represents the extreme scale and boundless ambition of the city, and the passionate drive of a team committed to reaching the top and never letting up. Excelsior represents the heroic optimism and positivity of Overwatch, a game that empowers everyone to become a hero. Within Excelsior is the abbreviation XL, which encapsulates New York at its most powerful: the city of more people, more fans, more creativity, more drive, more passion, and more soul.

The core of the all-Korean team is made up of the Luxury Watch Blue roster that competed in three seasons of APEX. Joining this core is ArK, formerly a support player for Luxury Watch Red, and Libero, who departed from Meta Athena this month after the completion of APEX Season 4. Notably absent is former LuxuryWatch Blue and South Korean World Cup player Flow3r. It remains unknown if the star DPS talent will join the franchise when he meets the league's age requirement in May next year.

LuxuryWatch coaches WizardHyeong, Pavane have joined the franchise as the team's coaches, whilst former LuxuryWatch analyst, Andrew Kim, has signed with the Excelsior as an Assistant Coach. Former Blizzard employee, Bearhands, will continue his role as Director of Player Personnel after joining the franchise in June this year.

Earlier this year, LuxuryWatch Blue withdrew from APEX Season 4 only three weeks into the tournament, citing upcoming Overwatch League commitments. Despite being considered one of the best rosters in Overwatch and claiming a championship win at IEM GyeongGi in 2016, LW Blue have underachieved in APEX seasons; their best result was a bronze finish in APEX Season Two. With star DPS player Flow3r not joining the team in Overwatch League for now, it remains to be if the New York Excelsior can compete with the league's best.

The Overwatch League roster of the New York Excelsior is:

  • Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong Yeol (DPS)
  • Kim "Libero" Hye Sung (DPS)
  • Kim "Pine" Do Hyeon (Flex)
  • Kim "Mek0" Tae Hong (Flex)
  • Song “Janus” Jun-hwa (Tank)
  • Kim "Mano" Dong-gyu (Tank)
  • Hong “ArK” Yeon Joon (Support)
  • Bang “JJoNak” Sung-Hyeon (Support)
  • Kim “WizardHyeong” Hyeong-seok (Coach)
  • Yu "Pavane" Hyeon-sang (Coach)
  • Andrew Kim (Assistant Coach)
  • Scott "Bearhands" Tester (Director of Player Personnel)