Top 5 Overwatch League moves made this offseason (so far)

by Jessica Scharnagle

The Overwatch League offseason is always somewhat chaotic with announcements every week from teams heading in a new direction and players retiring or moving elsewhere. Just over a month after the 2021 grand finals, this offseason is no different.

This offseason is especially interesting because of the news that OWL’s next season will be played on an early build of Overwatch 2. This means there will be one fewer player on the starting roster of every OWL team since Overwatch 2 is shifting to a 5v5 format instead of 6v6.

Tank is the role getting the cut, so many off-tank mains are unsure of their placement for the next season. For example, the Fusion have already cut their off-tank Gael “Poko” Gouzerch, and fan-favorite Hyo-bin “ChoiHyoBin” Choi has sidestepped the issue all-together and retired.

With so much going on, it’s hard to keep track, so here are the five biggest moves made in the OWL so far this offseason.

1. Sung-hyeon “JJoNak” Bang going to Seoul

JJoNak and his nasty Zenyatta skills are picking up and moving to Seoul to play with the Dynasty. After four seasons with the New York Excelsior, the league’s first-ever MVP is moving on. Few have stayed on the same team for as long as JJoNak has, and his skills are obviously still sought after.

The Dynasty have been a team that fans expected to do well from the beginning since they represent South Korea, where esports stars are plentiful and where a significant portion of Overwatch League players originate. But the Dynasty have not been able to win the grand finals yet, although they’ve come close in the past.

Looking at the roster now with JJoNak on it, there are quite a few names on here that should have Dynasty fans thinking about a championship. With Joon-yeong “Profit” Park on DPS, Myeong-hwan “smurf” Yoo on tank and JJoNak on support, there is a big name in every role for the Dynasty.

2. Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey returns as coach

Photo credit: Overwatch League

Now an assistant coach for the Florida Mayhem, McGravy has found his way back into the OWL after getting stuck in the mess that was the Los Angeles Valiant’s move to China. After the entire staff and roster of players was dropped late in the offseason so the org could move to China, McGravy was caught between a rock and a hard place, since most teams had already locked in their rosters.

Since that time, McGravy played on Contenders team Revival for a bit before switching to a coaching position at DarkMode NA, and now he will come back to the Mayhem as a coach.

McGravy signed with the Mayhem in 2019 as a player and played as an off-tank. Shortly after his signing, he was traded to the Valiant where he got some decent playtime. While on the Valiant, he played in the All-Stars tournament, and received the Dennis Hawelka Award for the positive impact he made on his team during his time there.

3. Matthew “super” DeLisi sticking with the Shock

Photo credit: Overwatch League

The San Francisco Shock pretty much cleared house this season as super and Minki “Viol2t” Park are the only two roster members that remain from the 2020 season. Super and smurf would often switch in and out during matches based on the most favorable team comp, but after smurf went to the Dynasty, the Shock found themselves with only one main tank player.

Would the Shock have kept super if smurf stayed? Who knows, but the fans are quite excited that super is staying. The Philadelphia native will stay in San Francisco for the time being, and he might end up serving as the starter depending on who else the Shock pick up.

Super is one of the OWL players with the longest amount of time on one team. He has been on the Shock since the start of the Overwatch League, and is one of the few who will continue with the team next year. It’s uncommon to see a player with this long of a career in the OWL and with the same team.

4. Former Shock and VALORANT player Lee “ANS” Seon-chang with the Gladiators for 2022

This clutch hitscan player is moving his skills over to the Gladiators, who are looking to have a pretty stacked roster next year with the moves they’ve been making. ANS is a great addition to this team. He brings years of experience with him as well as stellar skills that bolster the Gladiators’ DPS lineup.

There have been few OWL players that have made as many moves since the beginning of their career as ANS has. ANS retired from professional OWL in January 2019, then came out of retirement in December of that year and got signed to the Shock. After winning the 2020 grand finals, he switched to VALORANT where he played with T1 until this June, when he returned to the Shock.

Now ANS will represent the other California team, which will make for an intriguing matchup when they play the Shock next year.

5. Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon returns to Boston

Striker left the Shock this past June and is now returning to where he started -- the Boston Uprising. The Tracer star announced in early October that he was looking to return to professional OWL, and the Uprising recently announced that they were the team to get him.

Striker started his career on the Uprising and was there for a year before moving to the Shock. While there, he was an integral part of the success of the team, helping them to win the 2019 and 2020 grand finals.

His exit from professional Overwatch was unexpected and caused a rift in the community at his departure. Now that Striker has returned to the game, fans get to cheer for him again, and Boston fans can get excited for a great roster move going into the 2022 season.

Lead photo credit: Overwatch League

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