On January 14, the Hangzhou Spark announced that they were calling up their support duo from BiliBili Gaming to the main roster. Tong “Coldest” Xiaodong and Liu “M1ka” Jiming are only new additions to the Spark roster after the team retained a majority of their team for the 2020 season. While the language barrier with the rest of the team may prove troublesome, an upgrade to the support line may be what Hangzhou needs to propel them to the next level.

Coldest and M1ka were regarded as one of the best support duos in Contenders China, so here is a brief introduction to the Spark’s newest healing pair.

Coldest

In his time before joining the OWL, Coldest was referred to as the deadliest Zenyatta player in China. Coldest had the highest K/D ratio of all Zenyatta players in Season 6 and 7 on the ladder. In his time in Contenders China, he was able to help bring Flag Gaming to a 3rd/4th place finish in Season 2 (2018) and a 2nd place finish in Season 3 (2018). In 2019, Coldest joined BiliBili alongside M1ka and brought them to back-to-back 3rd/4th placements in the first two Contenders seasons. This was all topped off with a first-place finish at LanStory Cup 2019.

Even before he reached qualifying age, Coldest was considered for the 2019 Overwatch World Cup. This is something that could be taken into account when gauging his capabilities.

Coldest is arguably good enough to start as the Spark’s flex support above Bebe this season. If Hangzhou does decide to go with Korean comms again this season, then Coldest‘s role with the team will depend on his familiarity with the language and his synergy with iDK and possibly M1ka if necessary. And when a Zen meta hits the big stage, Coldest will be there to dominate with the best of them.

M1ka

Speaking of M1ka, the main support of the duo has played with Coldest since their time with Team Skadi’s Gift in 2017. While he may not bring the same hype levels as Coldest, it makes sense to call up the player that Coldest has been most comfortable with in the last year of competitive Overwatch. That is not saying that M1ka is a pushover at all though. Just like Coldest, M1ka has steadily stayed atop Chinese ranked play for multiple seasons. In competitive season 7 and 9, he ranked number 1st in the Chinese region.

The harmony between both him and Coldest is something that the Spark value. Playing together for over three years is a massive boon that the team can take advantage of if need be. If an iDK and Coldest duo does not work out, then having M1ka there to fall back on makes a whole lot of sense for Hangzhou.

In Conclusion…

While the Spark had bench player’s for the Tank and Damage role in the 2019 season of the Overwatch League, they lacked depth with their supports. Bringing in Coldest and M1ka gives them that cushion that could help the team adjust to the constantly-changing metas that Hero Pools will bring. Whether this is an instant upgrade or a just a gradual fix will depend on well the duo synergies with the team and how the staff decides to rotate them with iDK and Bebe.

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