Davin (Finland)

Tuomo Leppänen

Davin has had a storied involvement with his current Contenders team, Team Gigantti. Having played during their winning season (2017 Season 1), he was the only player on that iteration of Gigantti’s roster to not be recruited into OWL. It’s a sour note that was often leaned on during broadcasts, but one I feel creates empathy with this players journey.

During this season, Davin took on a less visceral role in the team. His DPS partner, Shadder2k was often the focal point, leaving Davin in a more supportive role. When compositions require him to step into the limelight, his performances on Widowmaker and Zarya did not disappoint. Looking at the Finnish roster, I doubt we’ll see him on the former, it will be interesting to see how Davin fits into this roster. Being both Davin’s Contenders and National team coach, Seita will have an great understanding of how best to utilise this versatile DPS.

uNFixed (Russia)

Andrey Leonov

The Russian World Cup team is made primarily from current or former Contenders players. Winstrike (formally CIS Hope) makes up the majority of the roster, uNFixed is of course one of those players.

uNFixed has been around competitive Overwatch for longer than most Contenders players, having been one of the founding members of one of the first professional teams, REUNITED.gg. His experience often results in clean and consistent gameplay, especially while under pressure. The importance of the Overwatch World Cup to scouting and recruitment has already been stated, and uNFixed will know that, a calm and collected performance against the out-right favourites (South Korea) will surely turn heads, and I expect uNFixed to do just that.

Txao (Russia)

Ilya Makarov

Keeping with the Winstrike players, Txao comes in as a player who’s had a turbulent couple of weeks in Overwatch Contenders. His team lost out on the European Finals by falling to Angry Titans in the semi’s, anyone who’s been following Titans this season will know that that’s not something to hold against them. Prior to this, Winstrike had been struggling to net wins in their group stage matches, and braved through the quarter-finals against 6nakes in a series that remained close until it’s conclusion. Why is this relevant directly to Txao? Well, Winstrike’s performance on the surface seems to be directly linked to his own. This comes as a double-edged sword, showing his importance within the roster, but also provides a target for opposing teams to funnel resources into.

In previous seasons, Txao showed aggressive dominance on D.Va, making it painfully obvious he was a former Tracer main. He brought a more balanced play to Season 1 playoffs, and has maintained that style since. Even by his own admission, his form hasn’t been up to the high standard it usually is. With a refreshed roster and a chance of personal redemption, I expect Txao to use the familiarity of his teammates, as well as the experience and mechanical skill of his OWL comrades to put on a master class of flexibility in Incheon.

Engh (Russia)

Andrey Sholokhov

Now onto the supports of Winstrike, starting with Engh. I have a love/hate relationship with this player, the latter of course being fuelled by his insistence in Season 1 to play Torbjorn on Point A Defence Numbani.

One of the things I admire about his play is his documented scouting and information feeding to his team. One of his most played heroes, Lucio, gave him the mobility to safely feed enemy compositions to his team for fast adaptations . Combine this with his synergy with his support partner, MayN, and you have one of the most utilitarian supports Contenders Europe has to offer.

MayN (Russia)

Alexander Muhin

Engh’s partner in crime, MayN also joins the Russian roster. This Zenyatta specialist doesn’t usually fill the kill feed as others do in Contenders, but his presence is often felt. Along with Winstrike, MayN has seen multiple Top 4 finishes in Contenders and Overwatch PIT.

Speaking with player’s about Winstrike, teams will often state the difficulty in killing their backline. This is down to Engh and MayN’s supportive synergy and positioning. Having this pair together on the Russian roster should make even the strongest team sweat at the order of prioritising these two together.

One of the problems is visually displaying the skill of the supports in competitive play, but believe me when I say that MayN can and will perform on the big stage.