The players who were key to that run, Jang “Decay” Gui-un and Lee “TTuba” Ho-sung, are still on the team, but the Justice have also arguably added better players around them. They finished third place in North America when nobody expected them to even win a single round. After all, Overwatch League fans were surprised when the Justice put together one of the best underdog runs in the league’s history at the season playoffs in 2020. However, if you only look at results and offseason acquisitions, No 3. Now, we might get some flak for this team’s position in the power rankings. While the Gladiators’ new elements start to jell early in the season, those two will keep the pressure on opponents with a year of experience together under their belt. Meanwhile, Moth’s addition to the team should be a huge boon for the Gladiators since the OG support duo of Benjamin “BigG00se” Isohanni and Jonas “Shaz” Suovaara is no more, and Kim “Shu” Jin-seo should be a solid partner for the former Shock support.įinally, and most importantly, the team kept the DPS synergy of Kim “Birdring” Ji-hyeok and Chris “MirroR” Trinh intact. Based on his performance in Contenders, that shouldn’t take too long. Indy “SPACE” Halpern is there to hold down the frontline as a talented veteran while fellow tank and newcomer Kim “Muze” Young-hun gets his bearings. But this year the stars may finally have aligned, allowing Los Angeles to keep their shields up and secure a spot atop the standings. What usually happens is, despite high expectations, the Glads can’t quite close the gap between themselves and the actual top teams. Photo by Tyler-Demogenes for Activision Blizzard Entertainment.įor the Gladiators, the start of every Overwatch League season feels like it’s going to finally be their time to shine. Los Angeles Gladiators Veteran tank SPACE is anchoring the Gladiators’ new roster this season. Normally, bringing in new players to replace key members of a championship team can be scary, but the Shock have a track record of doing just that and continuing their dominance. While they were key pieces to last season’s roster, new additions like Brice “FDGod” Monsçavoir can fill those holes. Specifically, Grant “moth” Espe and Kim “Rascal” Dong-jun have left for other Overwatch League teams. Unlike the 2019-2020 off-season, the Shock have made significant changes. After only losing one tournament during the 2020 season, their goal is to complete the three-peat. Coming off of back-to-back championships, San Francisco is the standard all others aspire to reach. This isn’t a surprise to anyone, but the San Francisco Shock look like the team to beat in 2021. Then there are the Dallas Fuel, who might finally get the breakout season fans have been promised for years. The Boston Uprising no longer look like a bottom-of-the-barrel Overwatch League squad, and Jake “Jake” Lyon’s return to the Houston Outlaws should make for some hype matches. Meanwhile, there is some potential intrigue elsewhere in the West. And while the Shock might have some new faces and different rivals nipping at their heels, Week 1 should demonstrate how wide the gap between them and everyone else is. While the West is the larger division, it looks like a lot of its talent has pooled at the top. Here’s what we think going into the first week of play. The regions have changed slightly, which should result in some interesting matches once the top teams reunite for the four tournaments that cap off each chunk of qualifier weeks.īut the question most people really care about is which team will stand atop the rest by the end of the season, and who will they face along the way? Will the San Francisco Shock still dominate after finally losing some key players? Which team will surprise everyone with an underdog run? And, no shade, but just how bad will the Los Angeles Valiant be?
While everyone will still compete under COVID-19 conditions, the league has had time to learn from last year’s model and improve the structure.
After what feels like forever, the Overwatch League is finally back for its fourth season.