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Overwatch League: Roster changes gather pace in off-season

Overwatch League Roster Changes 2020 Offseason

The Overwatch League has been hectic in the offseason as players bounce back and forth between teams daily. The changes coming to the League in 2020 are sure to wear on players and coaches, so building a strong roster early will be key to success. For most teams, contracts are expiring by the end of the year, and now is the time to either resign or release a player. As we are almost halfway through November these moves are already happening – so here are all the Overwatch League roster changes from November.

Overwatch League: Roster changes ahead of 2020 season

November 4th

Dallas Fuel

Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh acquired from the Shanghai Dragons.

Guangzhou Charge:

Jin-seo “Shu” Kim and Jungwoo “Happy” Lee are confirmed for the 2020 season. 

Toronto Defiant:

Lane “Surefour” Roberts joins the team from the Los Angeles Gladiators

November 5th

Toronto Defiant:

Kristian “Kellex” Keller is acquired from the Boston Uprising

November 6th

Los Angeles Gladiators:

Ji-hyuk “Birdring” Kim joins the Gladiators from the London Spitfire, the last of their original roster. 

November 7th

Boston Uprising:

Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy and Walid “Mouffin” Bassal were promoted from Uprising Academy to Boston Uprising.

Toronto Defiant:

Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson joins the team 

Washington Justice:

Min-seok “Aimgod” Kwon was added to the team as a flex support from the Boston Uprising.

November 8th

Atlanta Reign:

Dong-hyeong “Daco” Seo was released from the Atlanta Reign.

Houston Outlaws:

Christopher “Bani” Banell released from the team.

Seoul Dynasty:

Hyeong-suk “WizardHyeong” Kim joins as a strategic coach

Shanghai Dragons:

Kyung-woo “CoMa” Son was released from the team.

Min-seong “diem” Bae, Se-yeon “Geguri” Kim , Yang “Luffy” Seong-hyeon, Kim “Izayaki” Min-chul, Lee “envy” Kang-jae, and Yang “DDing” Jin-hyeok retained by the team.

Lu “Diya” Weida retained on a two-way contract.

Washington Justice:

Han “Sup7eme” Seung-jun joins as a performance coach, Joon “Wiz” Lee Hae joins as a strategic coach

November 9th

Atlanta Reign:

Ilya “NLaaeR” Koppalov released from the team

The first week of November kicked off with a bang, and with superstars being traded back and forth. Gamsu and CoMa leaving Shanghai were shocking, but later in the week, they locked down the remaining members of the 2020 roster. The Toronto Defiant made waves by acquiring damage player Surefour, support player Kellex, and tank player Nevix. The Defiant already have Mangachu, KariV, Logix, and Agilities on the team, but the extra investment in star players rounds out the roster. Many teams are beginning to finalize rosters to start training for the next season of the Overwatch League.

Week 2 (November 10th- 15th)

November 11th

Guangzhou Charge:

Hong-jun “HOTBA” Choi, Joona “fragi” Laine, Hyung-seok “Bischu” “Aaron” Kim, and Lizhen “OnlyWish” Chen were released from the team. Won-jae “Rise” Lee has officially retired from professional Overwatch.

Hangzhou Spark:

Hyeong-Geun “Revenge” An was released but, Park “Bazzi” Jun-ki will remain for the 2020 season.

November 12th

Atlanta Reign

Kim “Edison” Tae-hoon joins the team but is currently inactive due to age restrictions.

Dallas Fuel

Kim “Doha” Dong-ha joins the team from Contenders Korea team Element Mystic.

London Spitfire

Choi “Bdosin” Seung-tae and Song “Quatermain” Ji-hoon have been released from the Spitfire as they lose more members.

Los Angeles Gladiators

Chris “MirroR” Trinh joins the team from Uprising Academy.

Los Angeles Valiant

Russell “FCTFCTN” Campbell released from the team.

November 13th

Shanghai Dragons

Byung-sun “Fleta” Kim leaves Seoul Dynasty for the Shanghai Dragons

Vancouver Titans

Hwang “TiZi” Jang-hyeon announces that he is a free agent.

November 14th

Vancouver Titans

Jung-geun “Rapel” Kim released from the Vancouver Titans

Guangzhou Charge

Alberto “neptuNo” González, Ki-cheol Cr0ng Nam, and Qi Wya Haomiao are added to the team.

November 15th

Atlanta Reign

Hugo “SharP” Sahlberg joins the Atlanta Reign from the Team Envy in Contenders North America.

Houston Outlaws

Jung-geun “Rapel” Kim is picked up by the Houston Outlaws.

Los Angeles Gladiators

Hyung-seok “Bischu” ‘Aaron’ Kim is picked up days after being released by the Guangzhou Charge.

New York Excelsior

Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi joins the New York Excelsior

One team that still has their work cut out for them is the Guangzhou Charge. The expansion team released five players on Monday but later picked up neptuNo, cr0ng, and Wya. This was not a trade-up by any means, but neptuNo is a valuable addition. Seungpyo “Rio” Oh is a solid tank player, but Nevix will be joining from the San Francisco Shock to fill the off-tank role. HOTBA being picked up by the New York Excelsior might be one of the most impactful roster changes we’ve had all off-season. There are huge shoes for him to fill with MekO’s leaving, but his recent performances have been phenomenal. We are only halfway through November and a few months away from the start of the Overwatch League in 2020. Now is the time for teams to finalize their rosters and coaching staff to prepare for the upcoming home-away format. Players will face new pressures and stress with the upcoming format, but the impact they make in their home cities will make it worth it.

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