NineK Is The Jewel In The Crown Of The Fusion
After cruising through the 2020 Overwatch League regular season, after countless Hero Pools and pandemic setbacks, the Philadelphia Fusion seemed to continuously be caught with two-left feet. However, they have attacked the offseason both early and with force. After coalescing together French and South Korea talent, Kim "NineK" Bumhoon has now been appointed as the head coach of the Fusion’s efforts in 2021. With the success he found with little to no expectation, with the respect he earned not only with the San Francisco Shock during their 2019 title run, and with the Paris Eternal’s frankly surprising performance throughout 2020, there are few coaches fitter for the job of bringing home a title to the city of brotherly love.
However successful the Fusion’s jewel is, and with whatever resources are at his disposal, heavy is the head that holds the crown—but NineK is the only man for the job.
If you somehow dodged the absolute lambasting the 2020 Paris Eternal were subject to during the pre-season power rankings, then consider yourself one of the fortunate few. The tank line looked despondent and the supports were lacklustre at best. They had some promising talents that would join the team mid-season, but how did this whole project come together? Would this be another team marred by the language barrier boogeyman and the divide caused by it? A French-South Korean mixed roster with a majority South Korean coaching staff was not something the Overwatch League community did not see coming. The team that was ranked near the bottom of the league looked to be a consistent top team by mid-season. Not but months later, they exceeded expectations by winning the Summer Showdown and besting both the San Francisco Shock and the Philadelphia Fusion, teams whose accolades speak for themselves.
NineK, the newly appointed head coach for the Fusion, stands at an intersection of all of these teams.
In 2019, he along with the famed and legendary San Francisco Shock support staff, won the title against the Vancouver Titans. 2020 saw him become both the architect and the mastermind behind the success of the Paris Eternal. As someone whose title read “general manager”, more and more evidence has come to light to support the idea that he was more of a coach than the title explains. Now fate has weaved her fascinating web and NineK has found himself as the head coach of the Philadelphia Fusion for their 2021 season. Three storied teams, one throughline. A throughline with a proven track record, one with a championship, one that bet against the odds once. NineK is the jewel to fit the opulent crown the Fusion aim to build—and that is a heavy mantle to bear.
Click to enlargeFrankly speaking, we all get caught up in the comic book-esque, frivolous, and imaginative arguments of strength, power, and the magic some of these people can portray—but ironically enough, they’re people. There is no training montage, no tournament arc, no sacred bean that can renew any lost vitality. NineK cannot be the end-all and be-all; he is a fantastic coach, one that is on track to be added to Overwatch’s coaching Mt. Rushmore, but no one is talking about the expectations put on him. The Fusion have made two deep runs in the playoffs, once in 2018 and in 2020. If we count the stage finals of seasons past and the monthly tournaments of this year, their track record is gilded with impressive finishes. The May Melee, the Summer Showdown, the Countdown Cup, even going as far back as 2018’s Stage 2 title match, the Fusion is eerily familiar with placing well at major tournaments. However, gold eludes them all. Fusion is a team that knows and expects success—and the more that gold evades them, the more expectations mount. If Park "Crusty" Dae-hee isn’t fielding offers of blank checks and Brinks trucks, then the only other option is NineK.
After working with the greatest Overwatch team ever assembled in the 2019 San Francisco Shock and winning the title, after building out such a promising team with the 2020 Paris Eternal and winning the Summer Showdown against the Philadelphia Fusion nonetheless, NineK is a coach that boasts a resume that simply demands respect. Something that echoes a team he is very familiar with.
For a moment, let’s consider what makes the San Francisco Shock so dominant. During the 2019 and 2020 seasons, they had arguably the highest density of talent out of the majority of the league. Philadelphia during the 2020 season most certainly has a seat at the table in that discussion, but once you start to zoom out, the separation begins to manifest. Both teams boast incredibly stacked rosters; however, one has lacked the results. Next on the Shock’s checklist is this amazing coaching staff, something that the Fusion has already tackled with NineK, someone who has first-hand experience with leading a team to a title. When you look at the players remaining on the Fusion heading into 2021, the depth of the roster is still intact. Obviously, some holes need to be filled, but just with their foundational pieces, the Fusion already could be considered playoff calibre—but playoffs aren’t enough, and the Fusion have all but outright said this with these moves.
Outside of grabbing one of the best coaches in the league, the Fusion shocked the Overwatch world by securing veteran main tank Kim "Mano" Dong-gyu from the New York Excelsior. Characterised as someone who was one of the culprits to New York’s slow and reactive style, Mano will undoubtedly go down as one of the best main tanks Overwatch has ever seen. Coming from a background of historical aggression on Afreeca Freecs Blue, then transitioning into the aforementioned signature style of the Excelsior, Mano is a system player. You put him with passive players; he will aim to be passive. Put him next to a Genji who can’t keep his Dragon Blade on cooldown, and you’ll see his Primal Rages mirror that essence. We even saw this from New York this year; they attempted to be more aggressive, this saw Mano with a few stretches of what looked to be poor performances, which leads me back to the overlooked law that main tanks are spearheads that only mirror the performance of their team.
Without diving too deep into New York’s flaws, their problems seem much more systemic rather than simply having one fault piece of the puzzle. Philadelphia, you’ve landed a legend. A celebration is in order, not misguided claims of a “new passive order”—especially when you see who he is stood shoulder to shoulder with. With names like Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok, Kim “Alarm” Kyeong-Bo, and Daniel “FunnyAstro” Hathaway all set to come back, we doubt that proactivity is going to be a problem. While this addresses one lane of criticism, there are other concerns that we cannot ignore.
We still are waiting on a decision made on two existing options—one more so than the other. Both Gael “Poko” Gouzerch and Kim “Sado” Su-Min have their contract options still on the table, but the Fusion have just a few days to act on this with the coming November 13 deadline. However, the latter half of that pair is positioned against Mano at main tank, and while having a team finally build out a proper main tank bullpen should be considered ahead of their time, that is a tough call. On the outset, you’ve got to imagine that Sado’s option is not going to be exercised and he’ll be looking at free agency in the coming weeks.
All of this to say; the pressure is reaching critical mass. NineK has a star-studded roster in a home that desperately wants nothing more than to win—and while that seems like a recipe for success, there can be too much of a good thing. If in your summation, 2020 neared super-team status for the Philadelphia Fusion, 2021 will have cemented it. This is a team that is built to win multiple titles, and the offseason hasn’t even reached its halfway point yet. NineK should, and hopefully has, positioned this team well to win the offseason.
The Overwatch League has its eyes glued on the workshop of the world. If there is going to be a team to topple the Shock dynasty, NineK is going to lead the front.
Images via Blizzard Entertainment
