‘Chiu on This’ is a short and regular opinion blast

Today New York Excelsior announced the departure of WizardHyeong from their head coach role. This came as a surprise as he has been rated as one of the best coaches in the entire league. The only comparable to him has been Crusty who helped both the Boston UpRising and San Francisco Shock.

The tweet said it was a mutual parting which could mean anything really. Perhaps WizardHyeong got an offer so good he couldn’t refuse. Perhaps NYXL found someone else they think could be more suitable. Whatever the case, the biggest truth we know about Overwatch League is that leadership is the most desirable aspect to have outside of an ascendant superstar player.

The reason is threefold. You need a unifying vision to give the team color and with so many moving parts within a single team, you need a strong voice at the top. The second is that the amount of coaches with a proven record in Overwatch is a miniscule amount. Finally, you need someone who can adjust and adapt to given situations, whether that’s internal disputes or external patches.

Leadership is something all teams have struggled with as they’ve tried to find a coach who has the knowledge, the skill set, and the right fit for their team/players/culture. In the case of WizardHyeong, he has already built a big reputation as the head of NYXL and is the most successful coach I know of that has potentially entered free agency (assuming he hasn’t already joined a team). Any team that has serious aspirations to be the best team in the League need to pick him up.

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