General News Overwatch Player News

The first week of December has been eventful for Overwatch League teams, with a host of new signings, retirements, and Contenders team news. With two and a half months to go until the start of the new season, let us take a look at the recent Overwatch League Roster announcements.

Smex to Paris Eternal

The Paris Eternal signed off-tank Eoghan “Smex” O’Neill from the Toronto Defiant Contenders team, Montreal Rebellion, adding the second British player to their team.

All systems operational. Smex, ready for combat!



Please help us welcome @smexy to our team for the 2020 season! #FiatLux pic.twitter.com/veulthSD0u — Paris Eternal (@ParisEternal) December 3, 2019

Smex was in the Contenders scene since 2018, where he was part of San Francisco’s Contenders team NRG Esports.

He was also part of the United Kingdom Overwatch World Cup team for the past three years.

With this signing, Paris Eternal has nine active players and two inactive ones.

LhCloudy to Los Angeles Gladiators

Roni “LhCloudy” Tiihonen has joined the Los Angeles Gladiators from the Paris Eternal.

LhCloudy spent most of the past season switching in and out with the Eternal’s other main tank, Benbest.

LhCloudy got most of his playtime on Orisa, a stark contrast to the other Gladiator’s main tank, Byung-ho “Panker” Lee, mostly known for aggressive Wrecking Ball and Reinhardt play.

With this signing, the Gladiators now have eleven players signed to their team.

WhoRU to New York Excelsior

Seung-joon “WhoRU” Lee has joined the New York Excelsior, joining an already stacked DPS lineup for the team featuring the likes of Saebyeolbe, Libero, and Nenne.

WhoRU is in his first year of eligibility for the league, previously playing for the legendary 2017 Lunatic-Hai team that won two seasons of APEX.

He also played for Fusion University during their run of first-place finishes in 2018 NA Contenders.

Bani named to Washington coaching staff

Chris “Bani” Benell was announced as the individual coach for the Washington Justice.

We're so excited to welcome @BaniOW to our team as our Individual Coach! 🎉



Integrating his playing experience into our overall coaching structure, we are confident he'll enhance the capabilities of our roster! 🙌#JusticeIsServed pic.twitter.com/CMACssJmj5 — Washington Justice (@washjustice) December 5, 2019

Bani was a main support player for the Houston Outlaws, mainly playing the likes of Lucio and Mercy with Rawkus. He was also part of the Canadian team appearing in the 2018 and 2019 Overwatch World Cup.

He joins a newly assembled coaching staff with JohnGalt, Sup7eme, and Wiz.

Gladiators Legion disbands

Gladiators Legion, the Contenders team for the Los Angeles Gladiators, announced they will not be participating in the upcoming season of Contenders.

An update on our participation in Contenders for 2020. pic.twitter.com/ThSOAl7Gfq — Gladiators Legion (@GLALegion) December 5, 2019

The team has its biggest successes finishing as runners-up in seasons 1 and 2 of 2019 NA Contenders east and competing in the Contenders Gauntlet in Seoul this past October.

Gladiators Legion featured a number of notable players on their roster over the past two years, some of which went on to become Overwatch League players. They include blasé, Corey, Gods, frd, XQC, eMIL, Luddee, Water, Panker, Dalton, and Roolf.

Fahzix leaves Washington Justice

Washington Justice support player Riley “Tahzix” Taylor announced his retirement from the Overwatch League.

Fahzix intends to join the collegiate Overwatch scene, saying that being the first OWL player to play in the collegiate scene would be important for him as a whole. The commitment to his studies also meant that he will not be able to stream.

Aside from the Justice, Fahzix previously played for NRG Esports and EnVision eSports.

Fahzix did not see playtime for the Washington Justice since the first stage of the 2019 season, being inactive since April.

Fahzix has joined the NA Contenders team Bermuda as a support.

Pine Retires

The New York Excelsior announced that Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim would be retiring from the main roster to focus solely on streaming full-time with Andbox.

The Big Boss is retiring. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank @tf2pine for everything he's done for NYXL.



We're excited to announce that he'll continue to be part of our family as a streamer with @andbox_official. #EverUpward pic.twitter.com/AZjnkblRj2 — NYXL (@NYXL) December 6, 2019

Pine did not see any playtime in season two, as his preferred hitscan characters were not part of the meta for most of the season. The big boss still remained a fan-favourite for his 2018 heroics, even participating in this year’s All-Star festivities.

Even with DPS heroes coming back into the fold with the 2-2-2 role lock, Big Boss Pine will be missed.

Jake Retires

Jake “Jake” Lyon announced his retirement from competitive Overwatch.

“I’ve sacrificed relationships, sleep, and SO much time to become a professional player,” Jake said in a twitlonger. “Despite the sacrifices, though, I do not regret chasing down my childhood dream. The chance to compete at the highest level among the best players on the planet was worth it all.”

Jake was the face of the Houston Outlaws team and American Overwatch, being the centrepiece of Luminosity Gaming’s pre-Overwatch League roster and part of the 2017 USA Overwatch World Cup squad.

He was most known for his Junkrat play from the first season of the Overwatch League, his insistence on playing the hero gave birth to the nickname “Jakerat” and the JLULKE meme.

When not playing Overwatch, Jake took time to do game commentary with Andrew “ZP” Rush and Jennifer “LemonKiwi” Pichette for various Overwatch Contenders and World Cup matches. He did say this is not the last we’ll see from him in the competitive Overwatch scene, so maybe transition to broadcasting the same way Connor “Avast” Prince did might be in the cards.

Make sure to check back later to see any updates on the Overwatch League, this way you’ll be ahead of the curve when it comes to Overwatch Gambling.