The Grand Finals Week Is A Race For The GOAT Title
Time in esports moves by a factor of at least five times the speed. In some of them, players retire at 21, scenes come and go in under a decade, and legends walk off the stage with only a couple of months in the limelight of this fickle industry.
For more than five years, Overwatch has been played competitively, and for at least four of those, the scene has been shaped with enough integrity that achievements gained during this time come with prestige and recognition. While we, of course, don’t expect Overwatch esports to disappear any time soon - it is in fact very unlikely that it does - the life span of our game in esports years is creeping towards a duration in which it is justified to get the notepad out and tally up the achievements of our players, potentially making the argument for the greatest player of all time.
Before we undertake just that, we have to soberly come to the realisation that this esport has not had a moment of clarity in which names like Faker, Jordan, Gretzky, or Phelps have clearly distinguished themselves from the rest. However, it’s likely that this week will bring us closer to it, possibly pushing us to the very edge of this realisation. Presented in no particular order, here are the three candidates in pole position and six more who could catch up this weekend. GOAT candidates outside the top four teams have been excluded from this piece.
Click to enlargeJoon-yeong "Profit" Park - The playoff nightmare
Notable achievements:
2017 - APEX Season 4 Champion, APAC Premier Champion
2018 - Stage 1 Playoff Champion, Inaugural Season Playoff Champion, Grand Finals MVP
2020 - May Melee Runner-up
Go ahead and do it again. Sleep on Profit and see where this gets you. Echo won’t likely see play, so what gives? Arguably, the Overwatch scene has not seen a greater big-game player than Profit, consistently performing throughout each regular season on a wide range of heroes only to turn it on in the majority of playoff situations he has found himself in. From his unbelievable performance in the APEX Season 4 finals to his dominance over Jae-hyeok "Carpe" Lee in the inaugural season Grand Final, Profit has demonstrated the ability to turn games by himself.
The unfortunate reality of his career was that his career appears streaky given the ups and downs of his teams, even though he consistently remained an elite DPS player for the vast majority of it. Indeed, season 3 and his showings on Echo were the first signs of his mortality and were admittedly subpar. Otherwise, he’s consistently been the best player on every team he has ever been on despite playing in star-studded rosters.
A repeat victory this week with a similar showing that he had in season 1 would almost certainly cement him as the front-runner in the debate for greatest Overwatch player of all time.
Click to enlargeDong-jun "Rascal" Kim - The bratty king
Notable achievements:
2017 - APEX Season 3 Runner Up, Seoul Cup Runner Up, 3rd place APEX Season 4
2018 - Stage 1 Playoffs Champion (low playtime)
2019 - Stage 1 Playoff Runner Up, Stage 2 Playoff Champion, Stage 3 Playoff Runner Up, Grand Final Champion
2020 - May Melee Champion, Countdown Cup Champion
In a way, like Profit, Rascal’s excellence has been underrated in the way of Role Star or season MVP nominations and beyond Jonathan "Reinforce" Larsson’s now-legendary rant on Platchat, has been since Overwatch League season 2. Emerging in APEX Season 1, Rascal has consistently been one of the finest DPS players on the planet and has prevailed through multiple metas, delivering elite performances on a wide range of heroes.
Becoming a repeat winner with a long history in competitive Overwatch with several top placements and great contributions towards his team’s successes for most of them, Rascal would most certainly become a first-ballot Hall of Famer and certainly a GOAT candidate, arguably front-running the title if he was to have significant contributions towards his team’s victory like he did during the first half of season 3.
Click to enlargeHyo-bin "ChoiHyoBin" Choi - The rock-solid
Notable achievements:
2018 - Contenders Korea Season 1 Champion
2019 - Stage 1 Playoff Runner Up, Stage 2 Playoff Champion, Stage 3 Playoff Runner Up, Grand Final Champion, Role Star Tank, Grand Final MVP
2020 - May Melee Champion, Countdown Cup Champion, Role Star Tank
While ChoiHyoBin has been around since 2017, he really only stepped into the limelight of competitive Overwatch the following year, winning the first-ever Contenders Korea Season with X6-Gaming. Since then, the contribution Choi has had in the last two years has been arguably second to none, remaining the rock-solid starter for San Francisco Shock during their period of domination.
Depending on the weighting you give towards Overwatch League titles against pre-OWL achievements, he might be your justified front-runner for the title of the greatest player of all time. The most impressive part about Choi has been his ability to both be among the best players despite the off-tank role undergoing significant changes in the required skillset, first requiring exceptional D.Va skills throughout the first two seasons while requiring vastly more flexibility in this one. Moreover, his ability to outplay elite off-tanks in the clutch, especially in high-pressure situations, has been a difference-maker for the Shock on several occasions.
A repeat victory and possibly another Grand Finals MVP trophy might just push it over the edge in which we ought to look at Choi as the greatest player to have touched the game so far, despite firing on all cylinders a year later than other candidates.
The edge cases
Click to enlargeByung-sun "Fleta" Kim - The meta
Notable achievements:
2017 - Seoul Cup Champion
2018 - World Cup Champion
2020 - May Melee Champion, Summer Showdown Runner Up, Countdown Cup Champion, Regular Season 1st place, Role Star DPS, Regular Season MVP
His early career was an exercise in futility, deadlifting Flash Lux and developing his core strength. Joining Lunatic Hai which later became Seoul Dynasty, it appeared that Fleta would finally be released from his shackles, but they only became lighter, still keeping him from lifting off the ground. Finally, in season 3, he has found a team that he can rely on and the results of this ended in nothing short of two tournament titles, the regular season top spot, a Role Star award, and a regular-season MVP trophy. This development lets us expand our mind to the possibilities of Fleta’s career had he just been in the right place at the rights time earlier. Completely unhindered by meta developments, permeating mental barriers like “hitscan” or “projectile” DPS, Fleta does it all, excelling in eras of flexibility and specialisation alike.
An Overwatch League season title seems in reach for the captain of the red lantern, the crowning achievement would instantly catapult him into the top category.
Click to enlargeJae-hyeok "Carpe" Lee - The Toothless GOAT
Notable achievements:
2017 - Contenders NA Season 1 Runner up
2018 - Stage 2 Playoff Runner Up, Inaugural Season Runner Up, World Cup Champion
2020 - Summer Showdown Runner Up, Countdown Cup Runner Up, Role Star DPS
Some run away, others run up the hill repeatedly only to tumble down and only to get up once more. In the history of Overwatch, there isn’t a better player with less hard victories than Carpe and the extent to which he is responsible for that is hard to gouge. For most of their finals, Carpe was the reason his team got there, and at times, he couldn’t bring the same performance when it really mattered.
His skills are undeniable as his teammates who get to hear the most ASMR-inducing word “winnable” will attest to. In order to be in the conversation for the greatest player of all time, we can’t see past the lack of large cups on his trophy case. In order to enter the conversation, Carpe needs a victory this week.
Click to enlargeJun-ho "Fury" Kim - The psychic wunderkind
2018 - Stage 1 Playoff Champion, Inaugural Season Playoff Champion
2020 - Summer Showdown Runner Up, Countdown Cup Runner Up
Initially scouted by the late great Dennis “INTERNETHULK” Hawelka, Fury stepped onto the scene for Contenders NA Season 0 and made it onto the Spitfire roster in season 1, notably displacing Jun-woo "Void" Kang as one of the members that didn’t transfer from Kongdoo Panthera to the London team. Already hailed as one of the best players in season 1, Fury was a shining light for the otherwise underperforming Spitfire roster in season 2, reading his opponents like a book and becoming notorious for the amount of Graviton Surges he’d eat over the season. For season 3, Fury fought his way back to a starting position for the Fusion and has been one of the best off-tanks in the league ever since.
With a possible repeat victory as the only player in Overwatch League history, Fury would at least catch up to his peers despite being late to the circus of competitive Overwatch.
Click to enlargeJae-hee "Gesture" Hong - The Backpack-sized
Notable achievements:
2017 - APEX Season 4 Champion, APAC Premier Champion
2018 - Stage 1 Playoff Champion, Inaugural Season Playoff Champion
2020 - May Melee Runner-up
Given the entwined history that he has with Profit and the carry potential of his career companion, there’s basically no way for Gesture to surpass Profit’s achievements this week. Too quiet has the tank been throughout his latter part of his career in the Overwatch League and in season 3, he’s only looked great on Orisa.
Nevertheless, a Gesture that finds his old Winston strength has to be considered one of the greatest main tank players that ever grace this game and given his trophy case and especially performances in his earlier career, it would be amiss to leave him out of this list even though he has held onto Profit’s back for a hot minute. Make no mistake, in the grand scheme of sense Gesture is a first-ballot Hall of Famer too.
Click to enlargeJin-mo "tobi" Yang - The shadow-bencher
Notable achievements:
2016 - 2nd APAC Premier and IEM Gyeonggi
2017 - APEX Season 2 & 3 Champion, World Cup Champion
2020 - May Melee Runner-up
Ever since the inception of tobi’s Overwatch career in 2016, the attention this legend of the game has gained was always muffled behind the impact of a brighter star. Be it Jehong "ryujehong" Ryu, who was considered the best player in the world in 2017, Byung-sun "Fleta" Kim who became the talk of the town for Seoul Dynasty in the inaugural season, or Joon-yeong "Profit" Park in season 3, all these players remained in the limelight, while tobi has just been there, a top tier main support almost throughout his entire career.
A lot of highly anticipated and well-respected main supports have been on his team throughout the years, and miraculously he has benched them all. Seung-soo "Jecse" Lee came into the League with a lot of hype for his brilliant mind for the game, once again reinforcing that he was a top main support player for the Outlaws this season - benched. Sung-jun "SLIME" Kim came in from the imploded Titans roster, coming with high expectations due to his performances in season 2 and before in Contenders Korea - benched. Surely when Baptiste becomes meta, one of the two flex supports of the Dynasty would be taking over for tobi - benched.
The role of the main support has often been underappreciated as its noticeable contributions rarely pop up in kill-feeds but rather happen by their teammates not flashing in the top right. That said, the sheer longevity of tobi’s career and the high points he has experienced ought to qualify him as a GOAT candidate if he was to walk away with a victory this week. Few accolades to show over such a long duration while staying a starting and contributing player while regularly being recognised as one of the best in his role.
Click to enlargeJun-woo "Void" Kang - The ever-green
Notable achievements:
2017 - APEX Season 3 Runner Up, Seoul Cup Runner Up, 3rd place APEX Season 4
2020 - May Melee Champion, Summer Showdown Runner Up, Countdown Cup Champion, Regular Season 1st place, Role Star Tank
Ever since his appearance in OGN’s APEX, Void has consistently been one of the best off-tanks in the world who has only recently started filling his trophy case. Being able to stay on top of his profession in an ever-changing game like Overwatch deserves recognition, especially when he himself was never the reason his teams couldn’t push for a trophy.
The longevity of his career on top of a victory this week would launch Void into the discussion for greatest player of all time.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
