Here are 5 Rookie of the Year contenders this Overwatch League season

The fourth Overwatch League season starts Friday, and fans are already speculating on who is going to be the biggest contender for Rookie of the Year.

Rookies create a sense of surprise most of the time because although they can pop off and have incredible success in the lower level Contenders circuit, OWL is a big step up. There are many veteran OWL players who can smack down even the most confident rookie.

Although most rookies struggle to adjust, some rookies absolutely dominate the season when they come up. One great example is Kyeong-Bo “Alarm” Kim, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2020 and was also nominated for MVP.

Read more: Priestahh discusses why ROKKR have turned their season around

Alarm came into the league last season from the Philadelphia Fusion’s Contenders team, Fusion University. He quickly became a star and a nuisance for the Fusion’s opponents.

It was fun to watch him put opponents to sleep with Ana’s sleep darts, especially because he almost never missed. He also seemed to master every single support hero, which made him one of the most flexible supports in the league, and gave him the ability to swap on a moment’s notice and throw off opponents.

Here are five OWL rookies who could follow in Alarm’s footsteps and contend for Rookie of the Year for the 2021 season.

Tae-sung "Mag" Kim

Washington Justice -- main tank

Mag comes to the Washington Justice from Team Runaway’s Korean Contenders team. The main tank is the name on everyone’s lips when talking about who they think will perform best out of all of this year’s rookies.

Having a diverse hero pool is desirable, and Mag has no shortage of heroes he can play, as he has mastery in all of the main tanks. Mag has won several tournaments in Contenders, which means he is no stranger to performing under immense pressure.

Sign up for Nerd Street's 6v6 Overwatch Tournament!

It is also worth noting that Mag is paired up with Jun-ho “Fury” Kim, who is one of the best off-tanks in the league. These two are an incredible addition to the Justice and might make the Justice the team to beat this year.

Se-hwan "ChoiSehwan" Choi

Guangzhou Charge -- flex DPS

Coming from Element Mystic in Contenders Korea, ChoiSehwan brings a diverse pool of DPS heroes to the Guangzhou Charge. Element Mystic have had several players picked up by OWL teams throughout the years. In fact, the Dallas Fuel currently have six ex-Element Mystic players on their roster.

ChoiSehwan has played for many high-profile teams in Contenders so far, but he hadn’t been able to sign with an OWL team due to his age. Now that he has turned 18, he was an obvious choice for teams to acquire.

Although ChoiSehwan is a great pickup for the Charge, he will still need to prove to OWL fans that he has the chops to compete at a higher level. There are plenty of great names coming up from Contenders, but ChoiSehwan has a good shot at becoming a contender for Rookie of the Year.

Se-hyun "Pelican" Oh

Atlanta Reign -- DPS

Word going around is that the Atlanta Reign are dominating in scrims this year, and perhaps Pelican is the reason.

Pelican joins an already highly skilled DPS line for the Reign. He is joining Kim “Edison” Tae-Hoon and Kai “Kai” Collins, who are already being heralded as some of the best in the league.

Even with a great lineup of players, fans are still curious about whether the Reign have the leadership to bring out the team’s fullest potential. There has been some chatter on social media about whether management allows players to fully tap into their arsenal of skills.

The Reign have a stellar DPS lineup with Pelican added, so success for the Reign will be up to the performance of their tank and support lines. If the tanks and supports can enable the Reign’s DPS to run amok, they could be a strong contender for this season’s grand finals.

An "ANSOONJAE" Soon-jae

Toronto Defiant -- support

Another transfer to the OWL from Contenders is ANSOONJAE, whom the Toronto Defiant signed.

The Defiant are coming off a pretty disappointing season, and fans are hoping that a solid support will help propel the team forward. ANSOONJAE is another player plucked from Element Mystic’s Contenders team.

ANSOONJAE will have to play around DPS stars Andreas “Logix” Berghmans and Heesu “Heesu” Jeong, who are some of the best DPS players in the league. Logix is known for his hitscan heroes, and Heesu had a great run with the Fusion last year. It will be up to ANSOONJAE and his teammates to enable Logix and Heesu to play to their fullest.

With Jeong-su “Aztac” Park signed as his support partner, the two have ample time to grow as a pair, and even if they don’t perform well this year, they might be an impenetrable defense for the Defiant in future seasons.

Jeong-su “Aztac” Park

Toronto Defiant -- flex support

Speaking of Aztac, it’s possible this duo will be so good that both of them could make an argument for Rookie of the Year.

Aztac comes to the Defiant from the Korean Overwatch team World Game Star Phoenix. The team had some decent success in Contenders, which means that Aztac is likely prepared to deal with the pressures of the OWL.

When two players work flawlessly together, it helps their individual performance as well. When a support duo performs well in matches, it is rare to see either of them subbed out. Synergy between the support line is an important aspect of a team’s composition, and if Aztac and ANSOONJE have that synergy, they will be invaluable to the team as a pair.

The Defiant have a good set-up with this duo. Even if the team isn’t able to perform well this year, the Defiant have a support duo who are able to gain experience together and will work well with each other going forward.

A lot of teams are rebuilding with rookies this year, and if the Defiant signed Aztac and ANSOONJAE with the intention of keeping them long-term, this duo may very well become the deciding factor in the team’s performance as a whole.

Lead image credit: Overwatch League