The Overwatch Open Division Practice season will begin this weekend

With a long break between Contenders seasons, many players and teams from the Tier 3 scene are hungry for competition. Especially in the Pacific Scene where local tournaments are far and few between, Tier 3 players are definitely eager to show their worth come this practice season.

Although the practice season has no rewards albeit a (very cute) spray or does not feed into the Official Contenders ecosystem, the season will prove as a showing to who are the top tier 3 teams in the region as of current, and how the previous tier 3 teams have managed to keep pace. Here are a few teams to watch this season.

To note: this does not include participants of Contenders Pacific Season 2 2019, e.g. Green Leaves and Xavier Esports

KIX Team

KIX Team (Casper, IM60Hz, NiuBie, SherRan, AhBao, 生煎包(ShengJianBow), bravolav, ATing

Viewers of the Pacific scene might remember this Taiwanese-based organisation competing in 2019 Contenders Season 1, however, after multiple Open Division playoffs run prior, the team only managed to attain a 1–6 record in Contenders Season 1 2019, before going out in Trials and back into the Open Division. However, since their lacklustre debut in Contenders, they have retooled their roster heading into the season. DPS mainstays such as Casper and ShengJianBow are still with the team, while Off Tank bravolav has returns after a mediocre season in Chinese Contenders. But, one interesting thing to note is that Main Tank player ATing is listed on their roster. ATing is a veteran of the scene representing his country in the World Cup this and last year. Will his veterancy lead the team to success, or will this be another disappointing season for KIX?

Young Blood

Young Blood pictured during the Overwatch Thailand Major recently. Source: Overwatch Thailand Amateur Community Tournament (Facebook)

Young Blood is a Thai team with many young players, but they certainly have the potential to succeed. Boasting a full-Thai roster, they recently attained top 4 in the recent Overwatch Thailand Major, proving themselves as one of the tops in their country. However, placing well in your county is far different from doing well in the region, but Young Blood indeed has shown the ability to do both the latter and former, placing a solid 5th place in the previous Open Division Season. However, they have completely changed up their roster, keeping no one from the previous lineup. I would keep an eye out for their tank line of MidD4yz and NCSM on the Orisa Sigma composition.

Local success might be one thing, but doing well in the region is another. With tougher and more competition, here's hoping that Young Blood will be able to match their local success in the Open Division.

Daivo Esports

Daivo Esports pictured during the Overwatch Thailand Major recently. Source: Overwatch Thailand Amateur Community Tournament (Facebook)

If Young Blood were to be considered one of the best in their country, then Daivo Esports would be at the very top in Thailand even beating out the likes of Contenders team Xavier Esports at the recent Overwatch Thailand Major, beating out MEGA Esports bastion composition in a convincing 3–0. Their roster comprising of up and coming Thai players in the form of HICEE, GuN, PaLee, Ace, AunAun, F4URFUNNY, Sterben and McGREY will be aiming for the top and prove to the region that they are the best team Thailand has to offer.

With Xavier seemingly on the decline after losing stars such as Patiphan and thk, will Daivo Esports rise up and take their spot as the new stars of Thailand?

D81 Fortuna

D81 Fortuna (Luna, Lapin, Alive, Aleksey, GalaxY, QKI25, Mint, HAYAMINIST)

If teams like Young Blood and Daivo were considered new kids on the block, then D81 Fortuna would be veterans of the Pacific, consistently achieving high results and even breaking into past Contenders Trials seasons, this full-Japanese team will want to show that they are not slowing down and push their way to Contenders in new peaks no one has seen before. If I would pick out any player to watch out for, I would honestly just pick their whole roster, this current roster has stuck together for many seasons and their main strength compared to the rest of the competition is definitely the synergy they have built up over the past few seasons.

If the saying that hard work pays off is true, then D81 Fortuna would certainly be reaping in the rewards soon after countless seasons of hard work. But they still they to prove themselves as the top of Open Division.

Vexere eSports

Source: Vexere Esports (Twitter)

Vexere Esports comes into the scene completely brand new with their recently announced entirely Singaporean roster. As Vexere is an unknown quantity, I reached out to Tuataokay, their Main Tank player on expectations and strengths of the team. Tuataokay has stated that even as a new team, the roster is not unfamiliar with each other as they are already friends outside of the team and have developed natural chemistry over time. The team is already setting expectations high, aiming for Contenders Trials in future seasons and prove to others that being a new team is not a hindrance to them, and can be instead turned into an advantage. Tuataokay mentioned Damage dealer teammate Infectious as a player people should set their eyes on this season, citing strong game sense and insane mechanics as attributes which makes him vital to the team’s performance.

Singapore as a country has done quite well in past seasons, let’s hope that this team shows us what more does Singapore has to offer.

Punks Sevensins

Punks Sevensins roster announcement. Source: PUNKS esports (Twitter)

Punks as a team can be considered completely brand new to the scene and they recently just debuted their new Sevensins roster. Boasting five nationalities on their roster, one has to wonder how will they overcome this language barrier. Now, multi-ethnic rosters are certainly not new to the region, with even the Champions of the region Talon having four nationalities present, however, breaking the language barrier and clearing all communications issue from the start is certainly a must and thus, I spoke to team Manager Ersatz about the team. Ersatz has told me that a player to watch is definitely their DPS player ashy, despite some controversies in the past, Ersatz cited he has redeemed himself and is truly the definition of hard work. He also said that the whole team is working very hard in order to have a good showing this season. Ersatz told me the team is trying to overcome the language barrier by spending more time together as a team saying it will both improve relationships and improve synergy.

As Malaysia and Myanmar not having any players in Contenders past and present yet, one does hope for this team to succeed and add more representation into the region.

Bren Esports

Team Philippines (Bren Esports) having LAN training at their headquarters. Source: Team Philippines Overwatch (Twitter)

Wait a second… now, where have I seen this roster before? That is right; this roster is easily recognisable as the Team Philippines national team that will be competing in the World Cup this coming November. After a somewhat disappointing SEA Invitational showing, the team is undoubtedly hungry for a victory and using this opportunity as both good practices for the World Cup and also to prove that they belong at the top of the region. One player to look out for is Grandeesauto. As the only player with Contenders Experience, he would be the one if any to lead his team to victory. However, we shall see whether he has adjusted well to the Off tank role after primarily playing main support for Far East Society in contenders.

Philippine Overwatch has never attained good results so far in the region, however, with the backing of Bren Esports, will this be the time for their country to shine?

GIANT LYNX

GIANT LYNX (Rocket, Pannys, SayajinGOD, SUNSERIES, manghoe, SADISTIC, BOOMBURAPA)

GIANT LYNX is an interesting case of a team. After merging two teams (LYNX TH and GIANT Esports) who both went 0–5 in their debut Contenders season, GIANT LYNX still achieved very little the next, attaining an 0–7 season even after merging. Even with a seemingly good roster with current World Cup players ins Pannys and BOOMBURAPA, the team has never found much success throughout their time together. However, they have now gotten a new main tank in Manghoe and he might very well be the key to push this team to their long-awaited success.

But, this very well might be GIANT LYNX very last chance to prove they stand at the top, with new faces in the Thai scene such as Young Blood and Daivo rising through. GIANT LYNX has to catch up and once again prove they are worthy of qualifying to Contenders. This is their last chance, and it is all or nothing for this Thai squad.

Conclusion

With new talent bursting into the scene, this practice season will be a good showing on who to watch out for come the official 2020 Open Division season. Old faces are trying once again to prove that they still got it, while new blood is rising through and attempting to show their stuff. This season will certainly shake things up during the long off-season.

I hope this article sheds some light on the really under-covered Pacific T3 scene. Special thanks to Tuataokay and Ersatz for responding to my questions too!

As it is still uncertain whether the practice season will be streamed, you can keep up with the OD season through the Battlefy page. Link: https://battlefy.com/overwatch-open-division-pacific/2019-overwatch-open-division-practice-season-asia-pacific/5d6fe5f5ccdf036bf1046018/info?infoTab=details

by rXis (@rXisOW on twitter)