Doesn't hurt to keep a spot free in case of an amazing upcoming player that they want to sign in future

OWL: Fuel, London had such potential, I had a lot of respect for C9 and it's my home city, but they've gone through so many players, and seem to have settled on a team that I just can't connect to.

WC: GBR, let's go lads, meme the way to the cup

Normal: Hard to say as there aren't many left, so going back a few months, EnVy for NA and Laser Kittenz for EU were my faves

As long as the lads don't meme too hard, they've got this in the bag.

#JusticeForReinforce

Winghaven is more than good enough to be on a T2 team, but Blizzard have said so little about the T2 scene that it's not worth the risk staying in the game if you have better options.

As much as I want OWL to succeed, Blizzard really need to show support to T2 and T3 level, so orgs have a reason to have an Overwatch team. A few Contenders series a year is not enough for a thriving eSport really

I could see Boombox as a Zen specialist to complement Chips's Ana. Both are good at both, but they definitely shine more on their respective heroes

And finally, at the end of it all, the last person to bench TwoEasy was TwoEasy himself

Good to know they're keeping to the traditions of Cloud 9 and underperforming at the crucial time

I'm pretty sure Taimou was like 'I'm gonna do it, try and stop me'

Fate is probably a better Winston for sure, but his Rein isn't anywhere near as tested. Numlocked I would say has the superior Rein (insert numblocked memes here, but it's hard to blame him for NRGs failings at the time)

It's not impossible now EnVy have Seagull (okay maybe not an exact repeat, but a 4-0 score), however FaZe are a lot stronger now than they were then, so I'm expecting a much closer series.

I'm not sure of the map order, so I'm going to predict a 4-2 here with FaZe taking 2CP and one other, but EnVy proving stronger across the set.

Most of your posts on this forum are on point, as is your article, but I do have to question if we were watching the same game here. Seagull looked easily as competent on Pharah as any other player that we've seen in contenders, arguably better than some. Adding into that limited practice time, it becomes even more impressive. Taimou was a little underwhelming compared to some events, sure, but he carried his own weight, and Effect was absolutely going off, half the time not keeping players alive long enough for Taimou to kill.

It's also worth noting that whilst FNRGFE are an unsigned team, these players are in no way strangers to overwatch and LANs

It was basically his team. I can't remember exactly how much say he had in it, but it was significant. It was also hulk's recommendation that brought in Mickie part way through Apex.

If you'd have asked me at the start, I'd have said EnVy, FaZe, Immortals and Rogue would be the top 4. Not too surprised Renegades didn't make it, they've never really quite looked as good as the other top teams. The big surprise was for sure EnVision, FNRGFE have so many experienced players it wasn't as big of a surprise

I could get behind that

Am I the only one who's thinking that's kinda meh. Maybe it's because I'm not from Texas, or even the States, but that doesn't scream excitement, and doesn't conjure the same images as say Shanghai Dragons does.

That being said, that genji skin is pretty awesome

Good to know, thanks

I'm assuming Gigantti will be playing on high ping as they'll be in LA for Contenders. Hopefully that doesn't put them at too much of a disadvantage

Talent = casters + desk

This is correct, according to the tournament information, only players who had played for a team were locked to that roster. Teams could add more subs if they wished

He has denied that on twitter however, and I think also on stream maybe? He's a good player, but I can't imagine why you'd ever have him start over Chips, unless Chips was physically unable to play. I could see him as a sub on EnVy, but no more than that realistically.

He's definitely shone through as a strong player with OWL potential, so it would be good to see him picked up. Optic would make sense as a new organisation needing to build a roster from scratch

Shadowburn on LAN PogChamp

I don't think so, unless Blizzard have changed their minds. Muma was saying on twitter how he wished there was a 3rd/4th place game.

I never said 12, or even 10. I said 9, which I feel is a good size for a team to be. I also never said weekly, I said several months.

If you genuinely believe it's impossible to manage 10 people where certain players are suited to certain maps and roles, then that's fair enough. Personally I believe it's very possible and will start to distinguish good coaches and support staff from bad ones

And I'm not expecting OW to dramatically morph into anything, it already has subs and 8 man rosters if you look at the Korean scene, which is arguably the best in the world. Just because NA and EU are still catching up doesn't mean it isn't the future. With the amount of money being invested, teams will want to maximise their chances of winning. If that does turn out to be 6 man rosters then that's what we'll see. Personally I expected average rosters to be around 9 with a sub for Tank/Support/DPS with maybe one sub per game, but more likely it'll be rotating rosters over the course of a season of OWL

Everyone needs to get over this 'bench warmer' attitude, including certain pro players. The future of the game is clearly going to be large rosters where players are picked for games depending on the current meta, the map selections, etc. Being a 7th, 8th, 9th etc. player on a roster shouldn't be seen as insulting. It might be that in the current meta, you don't get much game time, but in 3 months time, you might be starting every game.

#4 But is he LFT OWL Tier 1 hitscan though?

#11 You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a good businessman who's also involved with eSports, many people seem to forget you need good business brains as part of your organisation

And for those asking what else he's done, he was also the man behind Misfits, before the trade that they come out worse of (which he was against btw)

Is it confirmed he won't be back on NRGss roster? Seagull and Sinatraa is a scary dps combo, and he already has ties with the org

Maybe they'll finally have internet that doesn't spike to 140 ping every day

Should be another close game, probably a 3-1 or a 3-2 for either side. I'm going to give GO the slight edge here, as they have a consistent roster, and it's unclear how well C9 will cope with a strong Doomfist like Leaf. Could easily be C9's game though if they play at their best

Kyb's Genji is his strongest hero for sure, probably a little bit better than Nevix's, but his hero pool isn't as big. With Genji not being at the very top of the meta (sure he's high up there, but not a must have, like a Tracer is right now), then I agree, he's best utilised as a sub right now.

The fact that this could genuinely be a close game is kinda crazy. RNG looked their strongest in their last game, and IMT are still looking weak.

I agree as well. I think it's Goldenboy is an incredibly funny guy, and a great host for Overwatch, but I'm not yet sold on him as a caster. I think he's getting there, and I'm sure he's a fantastic caster of other titles, so I expect he'll develop as the game grows.

That being said, I do miss Monte and Doa a lot though

Probably a 4-0 for EnVy, but with a potential of a 3-1 if FNRGFE win Hanamura, EnVy still look shaky on that map

#22 I think that says more about organisations not wanting to invest in more than 6 (occasionally 7) players, particularly with Western overwatch. Teams can be built for a particular meta, like this Singularity roster, and perform really well because of it. eUnited don't have a DVa of the same standard as Smex, and it showed. Kruise is the best DVa but you need his genji in fights. If eUnited had a larger roster they could sub in a DVa player when she's meta and perform at the same standard.

I'm hopeful that with OWL teams having up to 12 man rosters that this issue will resolve itself somewhat. It should be possible to build a meta-proof roster then

kruise isn't really the issue with the dps. The fights they win 9/10 are on the back of his plays. Vallutaja however has failed to have any impact really, I don't know what's changed, since he was a monster last season

nV vs RNG - 4:0
FaZe vs Rogue - 3:1
eV vs Kungarna - 3:2
IMT vs FNRGFE - 2:3

2/3rds of Team UK in the same game PogChamp

123 3-1 Gigantti
Singularity 3-1 Bazooka Puppiez
Singularity 1-3 eUnited
Misfits 4-0 Gamers Origin
Misfits 4-0 Bazooka Puppiez
Gigantti 2-3 Cloud 9 EU

Looks like Goliath was their sub choice in the event of Fahzix not being able to play

Link: https://www.overwatchcontenders.com/en-us/teams/details/59935ce824ce9039783e470f

I think (not 100% sure, but was the impression that I got from reading through the information on the website), that only players that actually play in a game are locked to a roster. So I think that subs that don't play can change and be on a different roster in future weeks

I just play PUBG these days when ranked gets too frustrating. Great way of de-stressing, and if you mess up in solos, only got yourself to blame really

hit reg is terrible this patch. I've noticed it on widow, mccree and tracer the most, but it's probably a general issue. I hope it gets addressed soon as in it's current state it's horrible to play those heroes

With EnVyUs, EnVision and FaZe looking strong, this could decide who takes the last play-off spot. On balance, I think I'd give it to Rogue, I'm pretty sure they're only going to get stronger as the tournament goes on, and wouldn't be surprised if they make the finals at LAN, as long as they can sort out the communication issues that seem to have crept in.

Edit: So I wasn't expecting some of the results, it's now looking like a 3-way race between Rogue, Kungarna and FNRGFE for the 4th spot. With both Rogue and FNRGFE both having to play EnVyUs still, this is now a must win for Rogue to have a playoff chance.

Doing some math here: If Rogue win this, and Kungarna beat Immortals and lose to Faze, they'll be on 3-4. If Rogue then lose to EnVyUs, they'll also be 3-4, but with the map win over Kungarna beating them in the head-to-head. FNRGFE have to play FaZe, EnVyUs and Renegades, of which they'll likely lose to FaZe and EnVyUs, and beat Renegades, also giving them 3-4. But here it gets interesting, because they lost to Kungarna, but beat Rogue, so I've no idea how that works in the table.

Tl:Dr: If Kungarna win this, they're likely through to playoffs. If Rogue win this, it could be anybody's spot.

This is the ultimate test for EnVision. If they make this competitive then they really are top tier, but I've a feeling they'll still fall 4-0 or 3-1. EnVyUs have just looked on a different level to everyone this season

This could be the shortest set of the whole competition

#57 Mykl on different accounts probably

I'm thinking EnVy 3 - 1, but purely because Taimou will try to meme too hard in a game

123 2 - 3 eUnited
BP 0 - 4 C9
Singularity 1 - 3 Misfits (my boy Chris gonna do work for sure)
Gigantti 3 - 1 Gamers Origin

Immortals 2 - 3 Faze
Renegades 1 - 3 Envision
FNRGFE 0 - 4 Rogue
Kungarna 2 - 3 Envyus
Immortals 1 - 3 Rogue
Renegades 0 - 4 Faze