The end of Stage 2 is significant in several ways.
The season is at its halfway point and there are only 14 matches to jockey for playoff spots.
There is an extended break between the end of Stage 2 and the start of Stage 3.
Both the Pacific Showdown and Atlantic Showdown will be played and the top talent within Contenders will get to show their skills.
What does this all mean? It means there is no better time to bring new talent into teams through either signings or trades.
Since the last regular season match of Stage 2, the Mayhem and Valiant have made a four-player trade, the Mayhem have signed Byrem and the Defiant have promoted Gods and Sharyk.
There is still more time for more moves to happen. What exactly should you expect? Here are some interesting transfer storylines to follow.
More moves coming for the Florida Mayhem
The
Florida Mayhem
Florida Mayhem
OWL
Rank #8
SirMajed
Majed Alrashied
flex support
Checkmate
Baek Seung-hun
dps
Hydron
Isaiah Rodriguez
dps
someone
tank
ANAMO
Jeong Tae-seong (정태성)
support
have already proven to be the most active team during the midseason break -- don't expect them to slow down yet. They still have two western players to trade away --
Apply
and
TviQ
-- and will have three open roster slots once they do so. However, they need to prioritize trading away the two western DPS players first as they have 11 players on their roster until they do so.
The team's top priority should be off-tank, but main support is a close second. Any other upgrades are icing on the cake.
Image credit: Benjamin Pursell for Blizzard Entertainment
Could more changes be in store for the Los Angeles Valiant?
Eyebrows were raised when the
Los Angeles Valiant
Los Angeles Valiant
OWL
Rank #15
Molly
He Chengzhi (何诚智)
flex support
Diya
Lu Weida (陆炜达)
dps
innovation
Oh Seok-hyun (오석현)
dps
Becky
Il-ha Kim (김일하)
dps
Ezhan
dps
Marve1
Hwang Min-seo (황민서)
tank
Lengsa
Chen Jingyi (陈婧逸)
support
parted ways with their last Korean coach, DongSu. Soon enough, 2018 all-star Fate was traded to the Mayhem for three western players. The Valiant still have four remaining Korean players.
Regardless if they decide to continue fielding a mixed roster or not, the Valiant should look to using one of their flex supports as a trading chip. Both KariV and Izayaki are good players who are likely in the top 10 in the league at their position. For a team struggling to find success, it may be smart to trade one of them away to acquire an upgrade at another position. Perhaps a player more comfortable on Brigitte than Agilities ?
Could Nevix move teams?
Speaking of bench players who are likely in the league's top 10 at their position, it is a crime that Nevix is on the bench. His problem is that he shares a team with ChoiHyoBin , who may be the league's best D.Va player right now.
This season, the
San Francisco Shock
San Francisco Shock
OWL
Rank #2
Viol2t
Park Min-ki
flex support
Finn
Oh Se-jin (오세진)
flex support
Proper
Kim Dong-hyeon (김동현)
dps
s9mm
Samuel Santos
dps
Coluge
Colin Arai
tank
have traded away players who don't have any path to playtime on the roster. BABYBAY had no chance sitting behind four other DPS players and sleepy had little opportunity to get into the server with Viol2t making a case for the league's top flex support.
Nevix finds himself in a similar position as sleepy did.
There are several teams who could use Nevix at off-tank. He would be a perfect fit for the Eternal, who have built an entirely European roster. He would be a certain upgrade for the Outlaws or the Justice. There are several other teams fielding western or mixed rosters who he would likely still be an upgrade for despite the teams having talented off-tanks of their own.
Perhaps the Shock still have plans for Nevix, but if not, expect Nevix to start for a new team by the end of the season.
The Outlaws may be stuck in limbo
With rumors of Immortals, the parent organization of the Valiant, attempting to buy the parent organization of the
Houston Outlaws
Houston Outlaws
OWL
Rank #7
Lastro
Moon Jung-won (문정원)
flex support
creative
Kim Young-wan (김영완)
flex support
Danteh
Dante Cruz
dps
Pelican
Oh Se-hyun (오세현)
dps
Mer1t
Choi Tae-min
dps
Piggy
Shin Min-jun
tank
' floating around, there is a chance the Outlaws may be entirely frozen in making any moves (if they aren't already) while Immortals attempts to sell them.
If that's the case, the biggest transfer for the Outlaws this season may not be a player signing but instead a change of ownership. And it may happen way after the last player transfer of the season occurs.
The Justice still have room to make more moves
The
Washington Justice
Washington Justice
OWL
Rank #17
Decay
Jang Gui-un (장귀운)
dps
Happy
Lee Jung-woo (이정우)
dps
Mag
Kim Tae-sung (김태성)
tank
Krillin
Jeong Young-hoon
support
Opener
An Gi-beom
support
have 10 players on their roster, and that's assuming they keep all five support players they have loaded up on. That gives them the space needed to upgrade their tank line with a new main tank and off-tank.
This is assuming they have the management in place to actually make the move. The Justice still have an opening at general manager, so it's unclear if there is anyone with the authority to make roster moves on staff for the Justice.
Hopefully, the gap between Kate Mitchell's departure and the arrival of the team's next general manager doesn't halt the Justice's momentum in making positive midseason acquisitions.
Image credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
The Eternal need to make a move before Stage 3
The current roster of the
Paris Eternal
Paris Eternal
OWL
Rank #20
Kaan
Emir Kaan Okumus
flex support
Glister
Lim Gil-seong (임길성)
dps
Wub
Cameron Johnson
dps
Dove
Jesse Palomo
dps
Malthel
Josh Gonzales
dps
Daan
Daniël Vincentius Paulus Scheltema
tank
Krawi
tank
dridro
Arthur Szanto
support
Lukemino
Luke Fish
support
Rakattack
Kyle Rakauskas
support
isn't cutting it and Europe isn't short on Contenders talent (or OWL talent for that matter, considering Nevix may be a potential trade target).
Most importantly, they cannot let NiCOgdh play D.Va and absolutely need a new off-tank player. Potential targets? Those would be Nevix, Smex (who no longer needs a buyout), ELLIVOTE , Manneten (who also no longer needs a buyout) and zappis . They aren't short on options.
Unfortunately, the Eternal have a few other needs but only two open spots on their roster. If they want to look for a better Zarya player then ONIGOD should likely be their top target. They also wouldn't be blamed for looking into possible flex support upgrades.
Language matters for the Charge
At first glance, it appears the
Guangzhou Charge
Guangzhou Charge
OWL
Rank #9
Cr0ng
Nam Ki-cheol (남기철)
off tank
Farway1987
Cao Jiale (曹家乐)
flex support
choisehwan
Choi Se-Hwan (최세환)
dps
Develop
Chae Rak-hoon (채락훈)
dps
Rio
Oh Seung-pyo (오승표)
tank
Unique
Yoo Dong-hyun
support
have the most flexibility in who they can sign since they've already established a roster that has western players, Korean players and Chinese players. However, the Charge need immediate improvements to bounce back from their 5-9 record and thus need players who can play immediately.
Assuming the Charge are communicating in English, that means signing players that can already speak English before joining them.
Of course, the Charge can continue picking anyone they choose regardless of language. But the team should only act on that mindset when they're ready to admit the season is a wash and they're building for the next season. Learning a language is easier for a player if they don't need to have it mastered until next season.
The Spark's best players need more help
The
Hangzhou Spark
Hangzhou Spark
OWL
Rank #6
BERNAR
Shin Se-won (신세원)
off tank
irony
Kim Hyeong-woo (김형우)
flex support
Shy
Zheng Yangjie (郑杨杰)
dps
AlphaYi
Kim Joon (김준)
dps
guxue
Xu Qiulin (徐秋林)
tank
superich
Wu Gengtuo (吴梗拓)
support
have been carried this season mostly through the efforts of
guxue
,
iDK
and (to a lesser extent)
Krystal
. If the Spark want to carry their success thus far into a postseason run, they need more help alongside their trio of talent.
Ria hasn't necessarily been bad, but he hasn't stood out as a top tier off-tank this season. BeBe is most invisible and there isn't much to say good or bad about him. GodsB has been very inconsistent -- even within the same match -- and often ends up as a liability on Zarya as a result.
The Spark should play careful attention to the trade market and to Contenders to see if they can find the one or two players needed to push their team over the edge.
Image credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
What's up with Trill?
The
Dallas Fuel
Dallas Fuel
OWL
Rank #1
Fielder
Kwon Joon (권준)
flex support
Doha
Kim Dong-Ha (김동하)
dps
SP9RK1E
Kim Young-han (김영한)
dps
FEARLESS
Lee Eui-seok (이의석)
tank
ChiYo
Han Hyeon-syuk (한현석)
support
's decision to promote
Trill
from Team Envy to the Fuel was puzzling. It wouldn't be outlandish to argue he was Team Envy's best player. Envy will hurt without him in the Atlantic Showdown.
Thus the timing of Trill's promotion is the part that's confusing. Why move him from Team Envy now, when the Fuel are on break and Team Envy are playing their most important tournament in the last year and a half?
Furthermore, OGE is one of the best main tanks in the league right now. As good as Trill is, it's hard to see him getting playtime over OGE. Why not make Trill a two-way player until the Fuel want to play him?
A tin-foil hat theory would suggest that the Fuel knew he was gaining interest from Overwatch League teams and they wanted more control over the negotiations so they could get a greater return.
Alternatively, it could just be a case where they thought he was ready for the Overwatch League and don't care about the results of their Contenders team.
The floodgates are open on westerners in Toronto
With the signing of
Gods
and
sharyk
, the
Toronto Defiant
Toronto Defiant
OWL
Rank #14
Twilight
Lee Joo-seok (이주석)
flex support
Heesu
Jeong Hee-su (정희수)
dps
Finale
dps
MuZe
Kim Young-hun (김영훈)
tank
Ch0r0ng
support
have made clear they want to pursue a mixed roster. While
im37
is fluent in both English and Korean and several other players have played on mixed rosters before, the Defiant likely want to add a couple of more western players to create a more balanced mixed roster.
In fact, im37 may be the most crucial piece enabling this. His fluency in English and Korean could put him in a Bischu-like role where he helps get across ideas other players may not have the language skills to communicate to each other.
Regardless, the Defiant have two open roster spots left and will likely want to use them to add one or two more western players. Otherwise, it's not much of a mixed roster.