G2 joins the race for the most competitive Overwatch team by recruiting former Epsilon players. Once holding a dominant spot in the competitive Team Fortress 2 scene, the ex-Epsilon roster is believed to adapt very fast to Overwatch.

Back in their days, Epsilon were heroes dominating the European Team Fortress 2 league. Epsilon’s rosters won no less than 7 seasons of the European Team Fortress 2 League between 2010 and 2014. Today, the TF2 players signed with G2 Esports to take their chances in Blizzard’s upcoming title Overwatch. The “MOBA-inspired arena-shooter” has many game mechanics similarities with Team Fortress 2. Therefore, the newly formed G2 Esports roster brings huge expectations. Here is what G2’s announcement says about their new team:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Joining our ranks are Hugo “Flippy” Perhirin, Seb “Numlocked” Barton, Stefan “schocky” Berends, Michael “Mike” Adams, Théo “Tek” Guillebaud and Jean-Louis “KnOxXx” Boyer. These are all players with some respectable achievements to their names in the Team Fortress 2 scene, both online and offline, and we are sure that they will fly G2.Kinguin’s colours high as soon as Overwatch tournaments start rolling in! Finally, we will have Michael “Mitsy” Debus, who will serve as the team’s manager and substitute player.”[/perfectpullquote]

G2.Kinguin’s Chief Gaming Officer, Jakub “Lothar” Szygulski, added the following:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”As an avid gamer and veteran of FPS games (and a fan of Blizzard) I was incredibly excited when Overwatch was announced. I can’t imagine that this title won’t be a competetive blast, the combination of FPS and MOBA genres will make this game unique across esports, so it was natural for me to search for a skilled and aspiring team which will represent our colors and values. I’m very proud to say that G2 is one of the first clubs that is bringing its own team for Overwatch, which I’m already a huge fan of. We can’t wait for the tournaments to come and competition that will appear in the future. Mark my words: G2 will be the best! Please welcome our new team!”[/perfectpullquote]

And Stefan “schocky” Berends shared his thoughts about joining G2 and his expectations for Overwatch, saying:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”We’re all really excited to have been given the opportunity to work with G2. Each member of our team brings a wealth of relevant experience that has huge potential to take us far in Overwatch, and with G2’s support and Blizzard working hard on the esports side of the game, we’re excited for what the future holds.”[/perfectpullquote]

G2 Esports isn’t the first team to drag full rosters to Overwatch. Fnatic, just recently announced their plans to switch their Battlefield Division to Blizzard’s self-proclaimed esports title.

Overwatch may still be in beta, but small tournaments have already been organised. The early days of competition may prove themselves to be crucial in order to find a spot in the elite of the game. Those who are fortunate enough to have access to the beta are using this advantage to train and compete, while other aspiring pro players are excluded of the game and will have to catch up.

From the perspective of teams like Fnatic or G2, it makes a lot of sense to get in early. It’s a low risk, high reward strategy.

From Blizzard’s perspective, this news hints that their esports marketing strategy was successful.

From our perspective, it suggests that Overwatch might very well be one of the next important esports titles. It will be interesting to see who will be the next organisation to jump on the train G2, Fnatic and others are already riding.

Here is an overview of the full roster: