bleghfarec made a good point about stuff related to the site but I'll give my perspective about things since I used to write for the site as well:

• Basically all of the news that we would write would just be regurgitation of information that most people can get from looking at a tweet, which is the biggest factor imo as to why news stuff died down on the site
• The overwhelming amount of contenders news really can take a toll on you if that's all you're doing, especially if it's for a (bluntly put) stale format with players frequently leaving and joining new teams so they can have a good result on their track record and (hopefully) inch themselves slightly ahead of the competition. This is partially the product of Blizzard's esports model and partially players have moved on to other things in life
• OWL news tends to come in huge waves, which can make doing articles on the topics tiring if you're writing on one team and suddenly two more teams announce their roster for the season within the hour
• Regarding the late news, I reached a point where I pushed myself way too far and ended up burning myself out from writing, leading me to end up having zero desire to keep grinding a skill that I've been working on since 2017 with teamfortress.tv. Working in newsroom environments like that is quite hard when you're doing it on top of a full university schedule (or full-time job in the case of tamagao) and from the few writers we had our availability was rather sparse, leading to late articles that would be getting put out by the time an announcement's hype had died down as you mentioned. Not trying to use it as an excuse, but it was the product of the situation we were in.

A 4Head answer would be to just "watch the top tracer players" but their play involves thinking about both what they are going to do and what other players are most likely to do in certain situations. Since I used to be an Overwatch coach and have taught people how to play roles I teach differently for people that are starting to learn something at a platinum rank than a masters rank.

If you're new to Tracer, focus on controlling flanks, getting information for your team (such as if there is a sniper in a certain location), and farming pulse bomb charge off of the enemy tanks. Those are really the core fundamentals of tracer and focusing on honing those skills can get you pretty far with her.

Update:

• Gladiators sign Bischu
• Reign pick up SharP from Team Envy
• HOTBA joins New York Excelsior
• Jayne leaves coaching position to become content creator
• Outlaws add flex support rapel
• MekO joins the Outlaws
• Chengdu Hunters bid farewell to their head coach, announces retirement

U S A

U S A

these are good rankings, well done scrub

Tank duo goals 😍

He finished rank 2, 3, and I think 11 in the most recent competitive season. He's a crazy good off tank player.

I long for the day when we can see DuDuDuDuDuDu and dudu face off against each other in the same game

Or if panker has gotten OWL offers and is going to be departing soon

10 from all the regions. Might have missed one though

Academy teams?

Overwatch Open Division Discord
r/OverwatchLFT discord
The O.W.
Elo Hell discord

Those are the big ones to put out LFT posts in but there are a few other small discords that I'm a part of that you can put LFT posts in

ExPandable Esports discord
Horizon discord
The Watchers

I recall there were mentions of Marve1 being more heal-efficient than Fissure, whose resource intensive playstyle was easily exploited by other teams. I don't imagine it had anything to do with Fissure being bad or having attitude problems but more of a needed playstyle change from the MT position to succeed in game.

As dark mentioned, Flame's inability to be open to roster changes is something that has been hurting the team since last season. Houston is also a weird team where the team as a whole is better than the talent in the lineup. They've just been playing with each other so long that they are able to make things work and that's why they are able to put up fights against some of the better teams.

That being said, If I were GM of Houston I'd make the following changes:

• Look to rebuild the roster around linkzr, danteh, and muma. Maybe consider keeping spree on the roster, but for the most part everyone else has better counterparts that can be purchased/traded from other teams
• Acquire a contenders spot for an academy team to foster talent (seriously though, how can you pass up the talent that Second Wind has brought to other teams?)
• Look to other team's benches for potential players to pick up. Getting Nevix from SFS would be an amazing pickup for them. I think the same can be said for Ripa (LAG flex support).

Another thing that Monte has gone in depth with is Houston hasn't developed their own style of play that suits them best. Or at least, they haven't become very good at it. Stage 1 Season 1 Outlaws is what I'm referring to. Running linkzr on widow and jake on junkrat (2 heroes both of them are very comfortable and good on) is something that separated them from their competition.

Recently however, having danteh play dva and spree on full time zarya kind of makes things awkward for Houston when teams are properly scouting against what houston is going to play. Danteh obviously isn't a dva player by trade and spree is known for having a good zarya but hasn't made a big name for himself on dva. The times he did play dva was okay, but clearly not as good as his zarya.

Fury is mostly regarded as the best D.Va player out there right now, but Mek0, JJanu, and ChoiHyoBin can be put into the conversation of top D.Va players in the league.

As for hamster players, Ameng towers above everyone, but he holds Rio in high regard as a very good hamster player. JohnGalt (assistant coach for LAG) recently did a VOD review on him. I still need to finish watching it myself, but so far it's been incredibly informative.

He was officially let go after the Fuel began announcing their roster for this season

Was the transition from ATL Academy to the OWL team an easy one? Were there any hurdles that you had to overcome that were particularly difficult such as different time zones, new teammates, or a new competition environment?

Spectr9l/ONIGOD pls BlessRNG

The dark reader chrome extension works wonders for me when I find myself writing late at night and don't wish to be blinded.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh?hl=en-US

PogChamp

All I'm going to say is Houston isn't going up in my power rankings next week. That was painful to watch

https://youtu.be/juwPkfisS64

An update to this story has been made following HuK's announcement that Fusions is now eligible to play.

These have not aged well so far...

Well this has certainly shaken up my power rankings a bit now

Now for my bottom 10 for the league

11. Hangzhou Spark
    • Assuming the reports of the Spark being tough for existing teams are true, this roster being a fan favorite can really compete with the bottom of my top 10 teams, namely Seoul and Boston. It was tough putting them below Boston, but I can't rank them that high based on old results from the X6 part of the roster and the two Chinese world cup finalists in guxue and Krystal.
12. Atlanta Reign
    • There's a lot of question marks around this team since it's a mixed English and Korean roster, but I want to see everyone on this team succeed. If Pokpo and Daco are on the same page, they won't be at risk of being upset by teams too far lower than them. With that being said LET'S GO DOOD.
13. Paris Eternal
    • I'm only rating Paris as highly as they are because of the meta that we're in. I think BenBest has the carry potential that this team needs to trade blows with other teams ranked around them. Once the meta shifts and BenBest can't operate like he usually can on Rein, then this team will really need to come together and harness the talent that So0n, SDB, NiCO, and Danye have.
14. Houston Outlaws
    • The Outlaws have a lot of potential in their roster, but last season were a very patch-reliant team for their successes. Danteh's addition to their roster does cover their weaknesses that they had during last season, but the patch we're currently in is vastly different than the patches that were played last season. If they are able to harness the power of SPREE in their 3/3 comp and are willing to sit out one of their DPS players so he can operate, this team has potential to beat teams above them. If not, expect them to be just another mid table team.
15. Toronto Defiant
    • Not sure how I feel about this roster. I haven't done much research on them, but not many other places that have published power rankings have put the Defiant very high up.
16. Shanghai Dragons
    • The revamped Dragons roster already looks much better than last season, but not improving after going 0-40 in the first season to the roster they currently have isn't an impressive step up. I don't expect them to go win-less again, but they're likely going to remain near the bottom of the standings.
17. Guangzhou Charge
    • With the Charge going 2-2 with the Dynasty in the Pacific challenge, I wanted to have faith in this roster to step up in this meta, but I just can't see this roster beating a team that's above them, whether close to their rank or far away.
18. Washington Justice
    • I like a lot of players on this team. I really do. But unless there is carry potential that the world hasn't seen yet from Janus, Gido, and Corey, I don't expect them to compete with many other teams rated above them.
19. Florida Mayhem
    • Still a sub optimal roster at best, like last season. They might rise in standings if the meta shifts, but I wouldn't expect much from this roster.
20. Chengdu Hunters
    • As much as I love Chengdu's colors and logo, I just don't see them getting out of the bottom three rankings. A lot of their players are unknown and aren't really that heralded. Hopefully they won't be this season's Shanghai Dragons and go 0-40.

Going to split this up into two top 10 rankings rather than a top 20

1. New York Excelsior
   • These guys need no introduction, and their DPS additions only give their already elite tier DPS line even more of a punch. My only concern might be in the coaching staff since WizardHyeong was released during the offseason, but I'm confident that New York can tackle any challenge that comes their way.
2. London Spitfire
   • The season 1 champions didn't make many changes to their core roster over the offseason, only acquiring Guard and Krillin. The discussion about whether these additions were good for the team are obviously debatable, but this core still has the capability to win another season title.
3. LA Gladiators
   • I was hesitant at first to rate the Gladiators so highly, but if Decay is as good as how much he was bought for, Gladiators fans should be excited for him and S4 to be their DPS duo. The same goes for r0ar, but if things go south for them, they have Panker who is likely chomping at the bit to start for them.
4. SF Shock
   • Every position is well fitted with depth, but I am concerned that like the Excelsior, they will have too many players and not enough matches to play them in. I expect Crusty to have this team in top condition by the time the season begins. If Super or Smurf can't step up to carry this team with all of their DPS talent, I don't expect them to perform nearly as well until a meta shift.
5. Vancouver Titans
   • As a RunAway fan I'm probably very biased towards this roster, but I think they've really got the capability to trade blows with the upper mid-table teams that finished in Season 1 (LAV and Fusion more specifically).
6. LA Valiant
   • With KariV moving from flex support to DPS for the Valiant, I can't help but wonder if a weakness has been created in their flex support position. I hope Izayaki can step up to fill KariV's shoes, but I want to see consistent results from him before I rank the Valiant higher.
7. Philadelphia Fusion
   • I don't think the new meta will be very kind to the Fusion. Having Carpe relegated to Zarya duty instead of Tracer or Widow makes me sad, but this really puts a lot of pressure on Fragi or Sado to step up and prove that the Fusion belong in the higher tier of OWL teams.
8. Dallas Fuel
   • Losing Seagull was obviously a big blow to the Fuel over the offseason, but if this team can rally around each other in the way that they did in Stage 4 of last season, we can easily see them upset teams three or four rankings above them. I want to see standout performances from EFFECT and rCk (assuming he will be starting) before I rate them any higher.
9. Seoul Dynasty
   • Fissure's addition to this roster will certainly give them a well needed boost, considering the main tank disaster they had last season. But I'm not fully convinced he alone is going to catapult this roster to immediate stardom like during the Lunatic-Hai days. The meta now is a bit more likely to favor them, but once we shift away from a tank-heavy meta, it's going to be a serious gut check for everyone on Seoul.
10. Boston Uprising
    • Losing Colourhex for the first 2 games of the season is really going to sting for them, but I don't think they should be rated as far down as other analysts are rating them. That being said, if their current coaching staff of Gunba, Shake, and Mini can prepare them like Crusty did when he was their coach, I think they won't suffer too many blows from teams around them.

Legend says if you spam 🦀ANY CRABBERS🦀there will be another article with this very rare flag

*pumping money into OWL

While I'm not entirely sure how contenders contracts work, Boston does have the ability to make one of their academy players a two way player. So that is an avenue for them if they don't want to shop around for another DPS player

https://youtu.be/QicHjfA9N4c

SFS, like NYXL and London before the beginning of Season 1, looks incredibly stacked with talent.

Hopefully they can have a really good performance this upcoming season given their finish in the season prior.

Thank you. I updated the article with that information

https://youtu.be/ArpwaH-T09c

This thread is basically inactive now :(

There's the over.gg pug server that's relatively active. Overf5 (a team with a number of regulars to the site) play there, so you can probably get your feet wet there. If not I know that Jayne's discord server hosts pugs relatively regularly so that's where you can also start.

Updates:

• Mayhem signs BEARHANDS as Assistant GM
• KyKy released from Outlaws
• Hayes and NamedHwi named co-head coaches of Fusion
• Dallas Fuel bring in Closer
• Florida Mayhem sign three pending league approval

enigma was a top TF2 player for many years before he came to Overwatch

:(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emoJrdLKPvk

From back in August when I was doing stuff with overf5, in the process of making another frag clip from scrims and ladder :)

ez 4 Australia

This was worth staying up until 4 AM to watch. What a comeback.

I can see a world where Florida decides to let go of all of their non-Koreans and bring the roster of a team like RunAway in for Season 2. It would make them highly competitive with at very least the mid-table teams and give the Mayhem fans a real team that can stand their own against competition that isn't the 0-40 Dragons. If that's the case, I'd predict Sayaplayer (and maybe aWesomeGuy) being the only one(s) returning to Season 2 in a Mayhem jersey.

Happy to see a representing city for Canada :D If the Paris expansion team is actually for sure happening, Season 2 is going to be incredibly hype!

The line between streaming and being a pro player was always difficult for Seagull, and wanting both to exist clearly would take a lot out of him in some of his streams. I'm sad to see him go from OWL, but on the other hand streaming has really been his true calling ever since his channel blew up back in the early days of Overwatch.

Whoever the Fuel chooses to replace Seagull will have some big shoes to fill for Season 2

Surprised the reported Paris team wasn't in this announcement. Hopefully it didn't fall though. I really want to see another European team in the League

As an Outlaws fan I wasn't really impressed with Rawkus most of the season. He was either slightly above average or just average, which isn't good enough to compete in the upper echelon of teams. Hopefully his performance on Team USA can show that he is really capable of being one of the premier Western flex supports, because there were quite a number of people that weren't happy with him being picked over Sleepy. Boink will likely remain a sub or be made a two-way player since it's pretty evident based on how much stage time bani got this season which of the two main supports is preferred.

The tank line needs no fixings. SPREE/coolmatt and Muma/FCTFCTN are well rounded enough IMO that no changes need to be made here. If anything, FCTFCTN might end up being designated as a two-way player so he can get actual playtime as opposed to just being a scrim player but if he were to go to GGEA he'd be competing with smurf for the starting MT spot.

But of course the biggest fish that Houston needs to fry before making themselves a true upper-echelon team is their 2nd (and/or 3rd) DPS. LiNKzr for obvious reasons will remain a staple for them, but if Houston doesn't develop ArHaN, Jake, or clockwork in the offseason to be up to par with a top DPS combo like So0n/Agilities, SBB/Libero, Profit/birdring, they will continue to struggle. Jake and ArHaN have potential to compliment LiNKzr finely, but I'm not so sure about clockwork. He's got amazing mechanics, but the limited time that he was given to prove himself doesn't really show that he's worthwhile of getting regular starting time. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I expect him to be designated as a two-way player.

my heart says Philly but my mind says London

I want to see a map 3 of this series :D

I thought I missed something in this. Thanks for pointing it out!

Good catch. Should be fixed now