Three OWL teams tease and reveal new signings

Steven Rondina Published 19/11/2018

The rollercoaster ride of the Overwatch League offseason has taken another turn as three teams unveiled new signings using the same set of mysterious emojis.

The teams in question are Florida Mayhem, London Spitfire, and Seoul Dynasty. Florida Mayhem was the first tweet out the cryptic message on the afternoon of October 11. London Spitfire quickly followed suit, and Seoul Dynasty did the same in the evening.

While the initial reactions were ranged from excitement to incredulity, discussion eventually took place in regards to what these teams would be looking for based on public knowledge.

Florida Mayhem finished in second to last place in the first season of Overwatch League. It would make sense that they would be looking to sign new players, especially after releasing ⅔ of the roster at the beginning of September.

Seoul Dynasty looked to be one of the strongest teams at the beginning of Overwatch League before missing playoffs entirely. They may be looking for depth after signing Baek “Fissure” Chan-hyung.

London Spitfire are fresh off of an Overwatch League Championship, but they didn’t get there until the roster was set on seven players. The roster is shallow, but it would be strange for them to change things up given the context of their roster adjustments. The second season of the Overwatch League will feature 20 teams instead of twelve, and the amount of moving parts amidst all of the rumors and teases could be even more than initially perceived.

Of course, there’s always the chance that these teams have made roster adjustments that have yet to surface to the public. There is only one thing for certain: OWL fans and players will never see the ????️emoji the same way ever again.

UPDATE:

All three teams have since announced the new signings.

London Spitfire have flex support Jung “Krillin” Yung-hoon, who will be joining the defending champions for next season.

Krillin is a relatively unknown commodity. He was previously a player on Team cRusher, a Korean Overwatch Contenders Trials team, and was most recently playing with the team in Overwatch Open Division Korea.

Florida Mayhem signed three South Korean players in October; one in each respective role. DPS player Lee “BQB” Sang-bum was a South Korean Contenders 2018 champion, but has not been active in recent months. Yoon “Swon” Sang-won spent the past season playing tank heroes for NRG in North American Contenders. Support player Choi “Kris” Jun-soo was a member of Meta Athena before being signed by Florida Mayhem.

The signings were announced via twitter, and included a “pending league approval” disclaimer. The three new players would give Mayhem the ability to start an all-South Korean roster for the first time. The team now has only two non-South Korean players in Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström and Damon “Apply” Conti.

Seoul Dynasty has made sweeping changes this offseason, and the team hasn’t slowed their pace yet. The team has now signed three more players and a new coach.

Seoul Dynasty announced their new signings via twitter, giving their new and improved roster plenty of depth. The new blood comes in the form of tank Hwang “MARVE1” Min-Seo, off-tank Choi “MICHELLE” Min-hyuk, and support player Lee “JECSE” Seung-soo. Coach Lee “WHYNOT” Juhyeop is the former coach of O2 Ardeont and should be a solid pickup for a team that struggled with leadership down the stretch last season.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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