Well GG NL!
Still well played Italy. :)

Let's go Italy, but gl to both!

Btw Poko charges those gravs like crazy, such a nice match!
and G Friggin G France!!

And just got brought to map 5 from Germany.
Like if BR brought the US to map 5, which didn't happen, if we consider FR number one in this group, and UK number 2 (as Canada).

Holy Kodak popping off on Route66

Nah not at all, besides the crowd, simply amazing, love for my FR cousins!

E Vai! Grandi ragazzi! :)

For once I hope they would have started a couple of hours later... never happy I know :P
Tomorrow's going to be a hard day at work and I won't be able to watch any of the matches, maybe barely be home for the end of the Contenders' final

In Italy I trust!
Well I sort of "have to", but I agree with your point, mainly 'cause I think Russia would have been top2 in any of the groups, except the one they slotted them in (could have still done it, but eh).

Yep like it happened for Mangachu, Nico's gonna play for France at 10am, for Eagle at 7pm, and the next day is again the first match.

I know, they aren't running marathons, and I get it, they are trying to somehow bring more visibility to Contenders, but I don't think this is the right way to do it

Agree with you, but to be honest is the same in all sports (and not just sports), gossip is something that tickles the masses.

I don't like it, at all, not in OW not in other sports (or environments), for sure not if it's done to make a profit out of someone else's possible misery, but the truth is that it's there, and form that point of view he's doing it "correctly".

Is that journalism? Of course not, like most articles on old days' tabloids aren't, I mean, just check these images by simply looking for "tabloid"
https://www.google.it/search?q=tabloid&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqnsmU8MndAhUIUBoKHXaiCFMQ_AUICigB&biw=1920&bih=979

No idea about Roolf and Adam, good players but there are better ones arond, Gods thou... still wondering why nobody picked him up for season one, even if just as a sub, and he could have been a starter in some non full Korean rosters already last season imo.

and for each one of these amazing players there's a Korean in the same role, just as talent, but more hardworking and better at teamwork.

Without doubt there are more Korean talented players than from each single nation (if we speak of region, it would be less evident).

It's also true that the vats majority of Korean players tend to work harder than the majority of their western counterparts.

What I don't agree with you too much is the teamwork side of it.
If they are surrounded by an all Korean team (and staff) the yes, else some (quite a few) of them become really whiny, which is a HUGE downside.

If OWL doesn't care and goes full Korean, then yes also your last point is valid, but I highly doubt it will turn out that way.

So yes I'd pick an Asking over a Fissure (yes I know different roles) every day of the week, unless my plan is to go with a full Korean roster, for the same reason I'd keep a Manneten over a Xepher, but ehi I'm western and can admit this is my personal point of view.

I really believe of the EU players of past Contenders he's one if not THE one I'd really like to be signed by an OWL team, dude pops off regularly and when he does... it's amazing.

Literally what Huston needed, of current/recently released OWL players it was either him, Mistakes or less likely Logix.

This is good for all parts involved imo, Danteh could get way more playtime with his Tracer and Sombra skills, Huston really needed it and the Shock cashed in while freeing a spot for someone else.

It might very well be the other way around, the roster is about to picked up as a whole, but they didn't want the subs?

Leaks are always bad, even when proved correct, but that's what people is after, sensationalism.

If I was him, considering his previous collaboration with the person in question, I would have either avoided reporting this, or at least done it keeping the names "secret" for a couple of reasons.

Now the name is in the open, and that's really not good.

As for the "actual facts", if it's true isn't good for that person, but it could also very well be a case of the manager promising something in good faith before being told no from the actual organization, in the end it's their money.

I just hope that IF this really happened all people involved will get a suitable solution (finding a team and trials),.

https://i.imgflip.com/vg7fd.jpg

Tbh this is probably the most approachable match for Italy, not an easy one the same, the PL guys are strong.

Most Impressive Team - Denmark
Most Dissapointing Team - Sweden (even with the last 2 victories)
Most Surprising Player - Basically 1/2 of China's team
Most Dissapointing Player - TviQ (I don't think he will regain his form ever)
Rising Stars - Ding, the guy really surprised me tbh (maybe not a rising star, but still...)

To be honest if I have to save someone out of Sweden it's Reinforce, who like you said had no comp playtime for more 1 year and also Sharp, unfortunately if your "star" player is slumping hard, and is not even realizing it...

That's what sad about TviQ he isn't realizing the level he's at the moment

Eh but this means tons of less gameplay for Fate, I'm not so positive he'd enjoy it, Valiant then didn't utilize their bench a lot... I mean Numlocked wasn't even scrimming for the majority of the season.

What's funny is that's Reinforce and Sharp making Sweden win vs Spain

Also, really like the duo ZP and Jake, ZP is the best (imo) and Jake is getting better and better at it, hype casters for a great game.

And GG China, but damn close and nice match!

So this is the match for 1st place, hype!

Break mid-serie vs China: "No I would consider us to the be the favorite"
Yes TviQ, sure...

Ok the match wasn't SO onesided as the score suggests, but still... GG AUSSIE!

While at the same time they dropped Logix, and Phillie dropped SDB, I hope both get picked up by another team (current or expansion ones), as if TviQ is still considered one of the top western DPS players... someone has wool over their eyes.

Then again, Popifresh popping off helps. :)

Honestly thou, as much as I like Linepro, he's really an amazing dude, I think if he keeps sticking to the Brigitte is not going to end well.

I loved to use hax, but now I have Shax.
Dude is really good.

Yep he literally ate SWE alive on Anubis (also the Junkrat of Leave but still).

I think it's a bit of both, really don't get why they tried twice the same 1 supp defense on 1st point Anubis.

I agree on the SHD part, but for the scene, be confident mate, if you remove Korea from the equation (I know right?) I still believe the Chinese scene is at at least the level of the EU and NA ones if not better (has better potential for sure).

I mean check this match, Sweden ain't a bad team at all, and yet in both maps so far the best team was def China.

Was honestly hoping you'd joined them as well!
Well goodluck thou for whatever you are going to do next!

Hope they also keep couple of IT guys, but love the strong EU vibes of this team already. :)

Oh btw this is my "home team", have none in the OWL but damn, both their team house and their apartments are literally 20-30 minutes (by feet) from my place, can't be more "Home team" than this, unless it was my actual home. :)

What Samsung and the guys are putting together with Morningstar is very big, considering we are speaking of the T2 scene, gaming house (quite big a 2 story building), houses for the staf/players, now adding a great manager.

I'm honestly happy that this is happening in Italy, hopefully it will help the whole scene, and not "just" the Overwatch one, we desperatly need it.

Great news indeed!
Goodluck to both, and yes would have probably preferred for the Morningstars to qualify through Open Division and Trials (not a fan of buying slots), but ehi if they are in Contenders I'm happy anyway. :)

Poggers trade and even more poggers this "stuff":

All Overwatch League roster transactions for this offseason can be followed with the over.gg offseason roster tracker.

Earthshatter
Now consistently hits enemies near walls
No longer hits enemies that enter the damage cone after the “wave” has passed that area
No longer damages enemies behind barriers blocking it, even if the barrier is later dropped or destroyed
Always travels up inclines and around the payload

As long as it works, Rei's abilities have been a roulette since... forever,
Can't count the times a shatter should have hit and missed, but also the other way around.
Just "trying" to fix them could cause more harm than good, if these changes are reliable (meaning happening 100% of times) is def something very good!

Now, what about charges? Yesterday I got into my charge a Moira that was barely inside my fov, couple of matches earlier I was dead straight on a Zen, he "miracously" jumped to the right of the charge, it's frustrating and not just for the Rei player, that Moira guy shouldn't have died, at all.

Resuming this to point out this news:
https://www.facebook.com/MorningStarsOW/photos/a.1877950395796612/2182119518713030/?type=3&theater

GJ mate and bevenuto in Italia, best wishes for your new experience!!

Now lead us to Contenders! :)

Also, this is really nitpicking on my side, but couldn't Florida pick another picture of Xepher for this announcement?

I mean, still with the Seoul Jersey (could have picked one without team jersey), but most of all, why not a smiling one? Like the one used by Seoul for his goodbye one? :D

Not sure if he's better, but I'd say they are at the same level imo.

Then again, they "had to" make the purge so eh one would hope (for their fans) they'd pick some really top tier players, Xepher is almost there.

Because the issue is, yes Koreans are on an average level better than western players, but if the majority of the league turns out Korean, and you don't pick the best (available) for a position, chances are your season will still be sad.

Not a fan of XQC, but in the lalst map (Anubis) he literally ate Muma alive.

Who's that dude with the mohawk? In first line the whole OWL and even now on world cup? :)

Also of course as soon as I make I prediction lol... let's go Canada for the comeback (for my prediction of course)!

I'd say Canada 3-2, but is gonna be close.

Now imagine if instead of Brazil (or Norway), Korea was in this group.

I think he did, he bought the Olympique Marseille club 'cause it was "easier" to buy than Paris St. Germain, but in the end Paris is like the 2nd city in EU, after London as population, that counts something for sure.

For those interested:

https://youtu.be/xjM4ADI-zLM

A nice breakdown of who owns the various franchises

this league is essentially about who has the biggest wallet and less so about who deserves it more or will bring more to the table.

Absolutely, it has been like this since the beginning, is not like other professional leagues aren't about money, in the end that's what makes the world spin, but still...

Would be curious to know how much each spot was paid for? If I understand correctly the price wasn't "fixed".

Not so sure about the second part, Jae spent the majority of his recent esport career in NA, coaching/managing western players, you usually pickup this kind of figures when you want to have a mixed roster, someone who knows how both cutlures "work".

Paris 'cause Blizzard's EU offices are in Paris (well it's actually Versailles but still), and also it's the capital?