Forging the Next Super Team - Where Could The Titans Fit?
The Vancouver Titans are rumoured to release their entire roster soon. With a world-class roster suddenly entering the market, many teams across the league stand to gain a lot.
Last time, we tried to find a new home for the hard-to-place members. This time around, we get to have fun and place the players that are not only superstars in their respective roles, they’d also fit right in with many top tier teams. In the process of dispersing the ashes of the Titans, we may just grow new giants to take over the league and may even be forging the season 3 champions.
For a full explanation of the current market situation and why the Overwatch League is currently in a buyer’s market, check out the first piece of the series where I placed the other half of the Titans.
Click to enlargeHyeon-Woo "JJANU" Choi - Offtank
The offtank position is a fairly stacked one in the Overwatch League. While JJANU has developed a mild reputation in the league of being not as flexible as the current game demands of offtank players, his skill level is still undeniably that of a top tier performer. Whichever team can make use of a D.Va specialist that’s a little slow in the starting blocks of a new hero but can be expected to eventually come around, will find themselves with one of the finest options in Overwatch.
The offtanks role is fairly stacked but there’s one peculiar whole which may need a filling on the recently abysmal Seoul Dynasty. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen less of Seoul’s Michelle even when D.Va was played and instead we saw main tank Marve1 taking over. The Dynasty don’t have a second offtank and are also the only team in South Korea, making the signing process relatively painless. They’ve demonstrated that they are willing to invest in the roster, likely willing to pay the salary that a player of the stature of Jjanu should command. Their currently atrocious performances could contribute to their willingness to bring new players into the mix. Currently only at 9 active players on the roster, they have room for JJANU too. With a competent offtank and perhaps another player joining from the Titans, Seoul could aim for a comeback that it requires to finally make good on their promises.
Click to enlargeSung-jun "SLIME" Kim
Mechanically great but also incredibly witty in his play, SLIME was considered one of the best Lucios in the League in season 2 and while we haven’t seen him a lot this season due to Vancouver’s small number of games, there’s little to suggest that he has fallen off. Increasingly, main supports are required to have a wider hero pool such as Mercy for Pharah or Ashe compositions, Baptiste and the occasional flex support pick. In this regard, we haven’t seen much of SLIME recently but the core assumption of any elite player should be that they are least serviceable on other picks.
The lip-smacking reality is that main-supports are in high demand and an improvement on the position would yield potentially great results for some teams in the league, making it likely that he would find a new place to earn a meal. For SLIME to have an easy transition, full or majority South Korean rosters would be preferable. The Dallas Fuel could potentially significantly upgrade from Closer and Harryhook but with them already having two main supports, the move looks unlikely. He would help the Charge if neptuNo’s situation was to not be easily solvable, but with Chara already taking up the second main support slot, SLIME here too feels like overkill. Tobi has been serviceable for Seoul but a roster with issues that appears this large likely needs a bigger paradigm shift than the signing of a player. The Washington Justice with their tiny roster could also be interested but SLIME may not like his chances of gambling his career on a team that currently is considered one of the worst in the Overwatch League.
The Florida Mayhem seem to be a team that stands to gain the most out of the abilities of the Titan. Kris had solid performances on Brigitte and for metas where that set strategy is preferable, he could still remain as a starter for the team providing a leadership role. In Lucio metas, he has looked only slowly coming up to speed from a really mediocre baseline performance at the start of the season. With a full-Korean roster and a head coach that’s familiar with the RunAway model, SLIME could be complementing the Mayhem to make them a top-half team.
Click to enlargeJooseok "Twilight" Lee
Twilight is undoubtedly the crown jewel of the Titans and the vast majority of teams would benefit from recruiting him as the value he provides goes beyond the player we get to see on the server. He isn’t simply one of the best flex supports in the world on all the picks he plays, with him you also add an excellent mind for macro strategy to your team. That package of skill and coaching ability is arguably unprecedented in the Overwatch League for the flex support position.
Once again, many teams already have two flex supports on their roster, making it hard to implement Twilight even though a team like the Atlanta Reign would gain tremendously from bringing him on. In a similar position are the Seoul Dynasty who would almost certainly improve with Twilight on the roster, but again with Bdosin and Creative already on the roster they’d have to tinker a deal. Perhaps a trade between the Dallas Fuel and the Titans would be possible, in which Vancouver would receive the Canadian Crimzo (and of course a lump sum on top). Soft salary cap considerations may apply to Dallas Fuel’s decision though.
While there are certain questions that should be asked when slotting Twilight into a hybrid roster, a solid landing spot might still be the Paris Eternal. They’ve recently picked up Fielder who has promptly proven his worth despite playing at a ping disadvantage from Korea, Twilight would add a lot of veteran experience to the team. The theoretical upside of FDGod and Twilight as Paris’ backline is massive and could push them further towards being a title-contending team.
Certainly more teams could make use of Twilight but for many of them, the flex support position isn’t the most pressing issue that they are facing and their money would be better spent elsewhere. Given what he brings to a team, however, it might just push some teams to perform unexpected roster moves to bend over backwards to be able to fit him in. They’d be unlikely to regret it.
Click to enlargeHyojong "Haksal" Kim
The rookie of the season could also be entering the market but with him comes a requirement for a strong coaching structure that can harness his competitive spirit. The range of heroes he has shown in his career has never failed to amaze and he often pulls off off-meta picks, not simply due to his mechanical prowess, but because he’s an incredibly smart player as well.
Haksal is said to have high demands of his teammates and a team that recruits him should be prepared to promise him the mission statement of winning the league and making further commitments. A team like the Mayhem would likely have to reach deep into their pockets to get both him and a player of the calibre of SLIME to convince him, of course all depending on the offers he receives and how much leverage he holds.
The Charge currently only have 9 players with both Wya and neptuNo out for visas too. Similarly to neptuNo and Wyya, nero has talked about needing to renew his visa in a month and while he has had a spectacular month of play, the world health crisis might just force Charge’s hand here with an opportunity like Haksal opening up. Depending on the hero pool bans each week, it’s likely that Haksal would more often than not start ahead of Eileen, which should also be considered an upgrade.
For Guangzhou, it seems like the stars are aligning for them to be able to make decisive decisions towards greatness. The team is currently residing in South Korea, they have open roster slots to fill, they seem to have the resources to stem the Titans’ salary demands and they’re building on a solid foundation of players that could be made into a super team by bringing Fissure, SLIME and Haksal on.
Images via Blizzard Entertainment
