Dallas Announce Their Final Roster

Yesterday, the Dallas Fuel announced their finalized roster for the start of the Overwatch League 2020 season. With their players clad in a blue-tinted hue, the team showcased their talent, a mix of League veterans and long-awaited rookies. Head Coach Aaron “Aero” Atkins held the blue flame that will, hopefully, lead the Fuel to a recovery from a disappointing first two years in the Overwatch League.

Dallas returns to the Overwatch League with most of their 2019 roster intact, but with fresh new faces and noticeable absences in the lineup. Minseok “OGE” Son was traded to the Los Angeles Gladiators and original Team Envyus core members, Timo “Taimou” Kettunen and Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod, were relegated to the Team Envy Contenders squad and Team Envy content creation respectively.

Among the new arrivals are former Los Angeles Gladiators DPS, Gui-Un “Decay” Jang, a Contenders finalist and hyped rookie for the 2019 season. He gave a respectable performance in his debut season, ending fifth overall with the Gladiators and in the top 15 of DPS players for damage dealt and eliminations during the regular season.

Joining Decay on DPS, is 3x Korea Contenders winner and Gauntlet champion, Dong-ha “Doha” Kim of Element Mystic. Any Element Mystic player in the ranks is a boon to any Overwatch team, and Doha has had a long-time to showcase his explosive prowess on hitscan heroes, most notably his Sombra, a hero he absolutely dominated with in Korean Contenders. Because of the newly announced hero pools system, Doha may prove instrumental to giving Dallas the ability to have some impenetrable on-the-fly strategies for the upcoming season.

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To compliment tank players Lucas “NotE” Meissner and Ashley “Trill” Powell, the Fuel have added esports veteran YoungJin “Gamsu” Noh. Gamsu, a once NA/EU League of Legends player for Team Dignitas and Fnatic, found himself playing Overwatch since it’s beginnings at OGN’s APEX Overwatch tournament. Since then, he’s become a highly respected player, being the bedrock for both the Boston Uprising and the Shanghai Dragons during their most successful stints in the League. Now Gamsu has been brought in to, presumably, bring the same consistency and reliable play to Dallas’s frontline.

Finally, Dallas have committed to promoting 2x NA Contenders champion, flex support William “Crimzo” Hernandez. Crimzo has been a core member of Team Envy since July of 2018, and a two-time representative for Team Canada in the previous two Overwatch World Cups. With his promotion, another Path to Pro success story is made, as fans and fellow pro-players alike took the time to congratulate Crimzo on his breakthrough to the Overwatch League.

With their final additions, the Dallas Fuel look to reach the heights they were always expected to hit. When the team first entered the League in 2018, they were thought to be able to compete with some of the top Korean teams in the world. However, for both seasons they couldn’t escape the bottom of the rankings, with a 10th place finish out of 12 in 2018, and a 15th place finish out of 20 in 2019. Even with highly talented individual players coming in to round-out the roster, Dallas are still not matching up with other teams in the eyes of many analysts and community figures. While, no one expects the Fuel to be the worst team this season, many believe they are still holding on to pieces that just don’t work. Tactical Crouch, Plat Chat, and Dividing by 0, are just a few analysts and content creators who have Dallas in the bottom half of the League. Can the Fuel go from being the fan favorites then disappointing during the season, to being disappointing before the season and rising to the top as the fan favorites? They certainly have the chance to strike a good first impression at their Homestand this Saturday and Sunday at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

 

Images via Blizzard Entertainment.