Sev cut from Hammers as team trials replacement

Former offtank player Sev has been removed from the Hammers roster, with the team currently trialling replacements. Snizzlenose is shifting roles to cover more of the offtank heroes, rather than playing DPS with a Roadhog specialisation, and the team is searching for a flexible DPS to finish their roster.

Hammers rose to prominence through their triple tank proficiency, beating Movistar Riders, Team Singularity Gorillaz, and Dignitas in the XTRA Cup to win their first offline tournament. In the recent patch they have struggled to adapt however, leading to underwhelming results in Overwatch PIT. The team looked far more comfortable on triple tank but were unable to lock out dive opposition, leading to an elimination in groups.

According to tank ChrisTFer, the team decided to make changes to increase their flexibility and become more comfortable outside their triple tank compositions. Snizzlenose had already proven his ability to play Roadhog at an elite level along with other DPS heroes, and Hammers decided that moving him to cover Sev’s role would allow the team to branch out to more dive-centric compositions.

“Snizzle has a unique quality in that his roadhog is world class, so we are still gonna play around that,” ChrisTFer told over.gg, “but him adding a few other heroes to his pool will be required to become a team that can play anything.” The team is looking for longer term improvements and expects it to be easier to find a DPS player than somebody who fits that pivotal flex role for the team, and they have full confidence in Snizzlenose broadening his pool. “We know he has talent for this game,” Chris reiterated, “so it’s just a matter of time before he learns new heroes.”

In the HND Invitational, Hammers trialled Zaprey and Nesh for the role. With Zaprey in groups, they beat Seqta (formerly ex-ROX) easily but lost to Vivi’s Adventure almost as unevenly, beating TS Gorillaz to make playoffs after two close Control maps.

Hammers brought in Nesh for playoffs, overcoming LDLC in the quarterfinals but losing to Riders without cracking their defense once. They took the Bronze Match against Laser Kittenz 2-1, showing reasonable form throughout the tournament but clear room for improvement over time.

Outside of the HND Invitational, the team also reportedly trialled Hafficool, but were put off by his buyout clause despite good results in practice.

The announcement of the TaKeOver 2 qualifiers will provide Hammers an opportunity to test, and prove, themselves against top European competition and potentially move on to their biggest LAN tournament yet. The road is rocky and paved with strong opposition, but if their improvements pay off Hammers could return to form and contest the best Europe has to offer.

The current incomplete Hammers Esports roster is: