Aztac Joins The Defiant, Signalling Third Major Roster Change In Three Season
The Defiant have picked up South Korean flex support Jeong-su "Aztac" Park. He joins from Uprising Academy and World Game Star Phoenix who he had been on loan for. He's the third signing for the Defiant this season after the announcement of Adam "Beast" Denton and Andreas "Logix" Berghmans.
While one player does not constitute a trend, rumours give reason to believe that the Defiant are once again counting on a hybrid roster not least due to the recruitment of head coach Dong-gun "KDG" Kim. This time around, the team could have a heavier Korean focus than last year, during which the team had only fielded Young-seo "KariV" Park and Joo-seong "RoKy" Park with an otherwise European and North American focus.
As one of the most promising talents on the flex support role coming out of Overwatch Contenders, Aztac could also indicate the quality of the team that the Toronto Defiant are willing to build. Generally speaking, extraordinarily talented players are more likely to sign with a team if their peers are at a similar skill level. Other factors to consider is the "Duck-duckling" phenomena coined by journalist Joseph "Volamel" Franco, which finds that players generally have a propensity to follow their former coaches, especially if they found prior success under their leadership. With the Philadelphia Fusion releasing a bunch of their Korean players, one or the other may find their way onto the Defiant. Given the quality of the team that KDG was able to assemble, it stands to reason that the Defiant will field a strong team in season 4 of the Overwatch League. Further roster announcements are expected soon.
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