Hello !

We’re getting close to the third season playoffs of Open Division Europe, and I think you’re getting used to it : here’s my piece on which teams to watch out for in the tournament !

No further explanations required apart from the fact that all my opinions are subjective. Let’s begin !

orKs White : the horde is back !

One of the few entire french rosters at the top of the leaderboards is orKs White, backed up by the orKs esport association, having more than a hundred of associates and success on the french scene of many esports game (special mention to the sm4sh players). Here we are, with a very similar lineup from last season with Dekest, Reckless, Sstarboi and Bombiman in it, while including some young players such as Apollo11 (recently replaced Pika) and Hakan. Most of these players also took part in the World Cup trials for Team France, Hakan getting a special mention from the coach daemoN in the article talking about phase one of trials. Team spirit is key to this team : always being serious in game, avoiding any unnecessary drama, playing other games together and seeing each other in real life. Investment and friendship is their engine that makes them go forward, and if you see some dudes with green skins inside the playoffs pool, you’ll know who that is. They just need to be flawless, as they’re currently 7–1 in the standings.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/orKsGP

Rise and Shine : name says it all.

Some great players coming from ranked together with a leader having much experience, that’s Rise and Shine. The man behind this project is Kyb from France, who, after many trials, spotted some talented players he wanted to play with. In this list, there was Bogur the main tank from Bulgaria, coming from swiss team, Tabu, a high-rated hitscan player, Shuh, part of the 12-man roster of France for this year’s world cup as off-tank and Badoli, a newcomer as a flex support who is also high in skill rating. The missing piece of this team is the flex DPS, and this one’s very special. Zerggy from the United Kingdom plays this game with a trackball. Just google it and you’ll be impressed. 4600 Skill Rating is what he managed to reach.

All these players are ready to try hard in order to become a top tier team, with the goal to build the best synergy possible with these great individualities. All this merged talent is ready to rise and shine. With a current 6–2 record, anything’s possible.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/riseandshineOW

Shu’s Money Crew : @shu

Remember That’s a Disband in Contenders Trials ? Take every players that worked out well in Trials and just do it again ! Izzy, Kolsti, BarbieQ913, Trispear, Zeal and Mauz are back in action. All of these players are recognized as great players on the EU scene, and this has been the case for a while. They’re looking to get back to Contenders Trials, and this this time will be different, as some of these players had various interesting experiences in between the two seasons. Izzy and Kolsti both concurred in the World Cup France Trials in the second phase, BarbieQ and Trispear won Insomnia and Mauz finished second there. Will this ride be the perfect ride ? We shall see. It’s off to a good start with a 7–1 record.

Sorby Esport : the danish dream

Built from scratch, danish organization in the end. This is how Sindustries’ road ended up going to. After a career as a player, he had to stop due to other priorities in life, but went back into the scene as a coach and a lineup in mind. After a talk with Henningsen and Watio, a team’s foundation was born. The follow up was the pick up of FahL and Lind, ex Singularity players, and then Fierce, a recommendation of JBN, the Young and Beautiful manager. Add to this mixture fupzen as DPS and there you go : that’s your lineup that was then quickly spotted by Sorby Esport who were interested in an Overwatch danish lineup. This has one twist however : both Watio and Lind are flex supports. That meant one of these players had to swap to a role he’s not very comfortable with, playing Mercy and Lucio. Both of the players were fine with it though. A very humble decision, and being humble is core in this team : everyone puts the team first and is eager to become better. Having all those experienced players also helps in terms of flexibility. We’re getting used to having a danish team in Contenders, and looks like this season’s no exception.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/Sorby_Esport

Dopamine (C8H11NO2) : more medicine !

Dopamine is back, and it’s like Shu’s Money Crew : take the same players and do it again ! Karra, Ruby, IDK, Mesic and Setlet are the core of this team, and as I write this, they’re looking for a flex DPS. Basically, this is a repeat of what I’ve said for Shu’s Money Crew, with one twist : their main strength is in tank compositions, and with the GOATs comp being a thing, expect Dopamine to destroy some teams with their teamwork built a few months ago. Experience is key in this team, it’s up to them to use it properly now.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/C8H11NO2_OW

Team Forbidden : losing is forbidden

Wizo was at the origin of the team : he wanted to build a team for Open Division season 3. Starting mid summer, he held lots of tryouts and eventually settled on a roster consisting of Helv, main tank for Team Switzerland, Kotetsu, Tseini, ex enVision, Jellis, Taang and Michr from Birb Bois. This roster then competed in Open Division and had some ups and downs. Cameron entered the team as a replacement for Helv in week five. This team however did not give up at all : each player is very dedicated to the game, which helps in working on self and team development. While their road in Open Division was tough as of now, their mentality did not stop improving. Where did this lead them ? Pretty much this : losing is forbidden. The team currently sits with a 6–2 record, and is looking to make it an 8–2.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/teamforbiddenow

TrailBlazers : blazing through Europe

In May 2017, two players had the idea of building a team : Kouhia and Virtis (no longer part of it). The first version of TrailBlazers was then created and as of today, its base Kouhia, Olu and Hepa are still part of it. Add Cali, Haxwaffles and Farmas into the mix and you get a dominant finnish team in Europe. Some of these players and staff have been together for a long time, allowing them to easily drive new players in as well as coaching and supporting them. Strengths and weaknesses of each players are known among the team and working together is not an issue at all : everyone’s on the same page, the one on which could be written the story of a new finnish roster in Contenders.

elo.Tick : tick tock

Ever heard of Overwatch fusion ? Here’s a perfect example : elo.Tick is the result of a merge between two rosters : the first roster was Last Picks with Carnifex, player for Team Italy this year, Bimbz from Samsung Morning Stars Black, Obling who played for Singularity and Daiya who’s in the 12-man roster of United Kingdom in this World Cup. The second roster was actually a first iteration of elo.Tick with Progi from Mirage Sports Electronique, Shonp, Vitacoco from Kungarna and KangaKanga. It is one of the rare 8-man rosters of the Open Division, coached by massive and managed by Will. You may have recognized all of these names, and it makes sense you did because all of them have large competitive experience from the european tier 2 and 3 scenes, which allows us to resume their strength in one word : experience. The team didn’t have a lot of time to build its synergy and teamplay but because the players already know what they’re doing, the learning curve isn’t so steep and the team grows as fast as their players’ elo. With a current 7–1 record, the team sits at the top of the Open Division ladder, and might stay there the same way the best players reach top 500, such as the players in this team.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/ElotickEsports

Eminence Esports : dinstinguished people

It all started with Dancos in early May of this year. The idea was to promote dedicated Tier 3 players and staff with a stable platform for them to grow and succeed. With that in mind, he started recruiting coaches who then picked up players after a few months of trials. The roster was complete at the end of July, right before season 3. Its players are known on the Tier 3 scene, having played in many GO4s and other Open Division seasons : Darkartas from Israel, Vestola from Finland, QvisT from Sweden, VorteX from Germany, TheWrongName from Netherlands and NoluZz from France who most notably played for RedWorld Gaming. These players are backed by Dawulf as Head Coach from Germany, Chip as Assistant Coach from Finland and Anatec, a Player Support Coach from that same country. Led by Dawulf, this coaching staff was able to build the players very well, creating many strenghts : Darkartas and TheWrongName’s leadership as well as QvisT and VorteX’s game sense, mechanics and experience made this team dangerous. The group of players is dedicated and have a professional approach about improvement and each other. This association of people is doing a great job with a 7–1 record in Open Division, and the definition of the word “Eminent” fits these guys very well.

HSL Esports : the Narwhals are back !

We’ve seen them quite a lot in Open Division and they always showed great results. This season’s the one where they have great chances of reaching Contenders, from their perspective. As Ascoft and Milkyman were looking to build a new team with Eluskie, the general manager of Koord Narwhals at the time, who was approached by HSL to form a new Overwatch team for their organization. The players already in Eluskie’s project were totally in it and so has the deal started to be a thing, and so was HSL announced with its roster welcoming three additional french players : Tek36, part of Bazooka Puppiez in Contenders and Wind and Rain in Open Division, zyKK who had a time in Eagle Gaming and Hidan who recently competed in NA Contenders for Skyfoxes. To this mix is also included the returning Sardis who played for Wind and Rain alongside Tek36. You guessed it right : there is a lot of talent and experience mixed together. They’ve all been on the scene for a while, and for their manager joinvoicepls, this team’s the perfect mix to reach Contenders. With a current 8–0 score with flawless wins against good teams, you might see their name shine in Contenders Season 3. The lions may not stay in their cage any longer !

Twitter : https://twitter.com/HSLesports

Aaaand that’s it ! Week 5 of Open Division starts this week-end, with coverage from CastersNest (french) and broadcast.gg (english).

Good bye !