Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod (Photo from http://liquipedia.net/overwatch/Mickie)

EDIT : Since the original idea and draft of this piece the Dallas Fuel have had various rumors arise around the internet. Until proven as fact it seems inappropriate to include it when the focus of the article is just about my opinion on how Mickie could very well be a positive force for the Dallas Fuel moving forward and should be given every opportunity to work through this rut with his teammates. If you are interested about some information surrounding Dallas here is @MonteCristo, @Thooorin & @Askjayne on Episode 26 of Oversight . The xQc twitch comments they can be found here.

It isn’t too difficult to poke at the Dallas fuel right now. They were considered the best Western team in the league, their roster was the mighty Envyus featuring star players in regards to mechanics, sheer personality and popularity. It seems the best days for Envyus are long behind them — so much so that you’d have to return to the preseason to revisit their glory days. We can talk about the dramatics of players speaking out or being cut and coaches being let go, but it’s being covered left and right. As a fan of the NYXL and as a spectator on the outside looking in I just want someone to save Mickie.

Pongphop “Mickie” Rattanasangchod was the first player we were really acquainted with in the Overwatch League (OWL) as his Bio Blast was on stream just before Dallas’ kick off against the Seoul Dynasty. We got to see a player with an unmatched level of optimism and a natural personality that the league instantly fell in love with. He was introduced to the league with the idea of wanting to do new things both in and out of the OWL and his motto was about just being happy and how “sometimes relaxing is the key to doing this better.” His teammates spoke highly about him, referring to Mickie as the best D.va in the world and as the glue that held this team together.

When Dallas was still Envyus during one of their last runs in the NA Contenders Mickie sported a 1126 average rating according to Winstonslab.com, peaking as high as 1145 during Envyus’ final playoff run. Now as the season is in a tailspin his average rating in the last 10 games is 776 with his better performances coming against NYXL, Seoul and the Gladiators.

Now only a few months later Dallas is falling apart, the coaching carousel is in full swing with the release of Kyle “KyKy” Souder, and players are feeling the pressure. Hyeon “EFFECT” Hwang is making ultimatums that might just be justified. Fans are jumping on the roster composition and the juggling of the 5 DPS players(this has now dropped to 4 with the release of Kim “Rascal” Dong-jun). This is a team that leads the league with 25 player combinations, that sort of roster volatility pours into the drama around who should and needs to be playing. The only other teams with a comparable roster combination number are Seoul Dynasty(20) and Shanghai(18). That is not the company you want to be with.

How has this impacted Mickie? You can over analyze the situation all day and bring up stats and reports, but at this point it’s easier and just as accurate to say “poorly.” He currently has the lowest rating on the team according to Winstonslab.com. Tanks are meant to play around the team, meaning that a great tank can seem very mediocre on a slumping team. That’s exactly the case with Mickie at the moment — an exceptional Tank on a team who just can’t get it together. Dallas has spent far too much time practicing eclectic and ever-changing DPS combinations, with the problem now exacerbated by the releases of xQc and Rascal and the situations surrounding them. It is no surprise that the tanks have been struggling, especially Mickie.

These problems combined with Dallas’ 8–18 overall record make it easy to see why social media seems adamant that Seagull should see time playing D.va. Yet Mickie has kept his composure somehow smiling through everything going on around him and keeping a positive outlook and mentality on a team that seems to be bottoming out around him. The Esports environment is a fast paced whirlwind of equal parts luck and skill, where you can be a starting player one moment and nearly irrelevant the next. Mickie and the rest of the Fuel are in a purgatory that none of them saw coming.

The emphasis on Mickie is because of who he plays more than the role. It’s D.va — a Meka suit wearing tank. D.va as of now is probably one of the most consistent and versatile characters the game has seen. She fills the role of an off-tank, an aggressor against Mercy, but also has the ability to stall out points team fights with the ever-lurking threat of a Defense Matrix waiting to eat ultimates. If Dallas can get their D.va main playing close to the level he was playing at pre-OWL it could act as the catalyst that Dallas needs.

The Rosters are now locked for Season 1 and it begs the question: who can save Mickie? The worst case scenario at the moment is if the coaching staff gives in to the clamoring for Seagull and it causes Mickie to have time on the bench. The best thing? This may be the only time Dallas has a reason for doing nothing. There needs to be a calm after the storm, not just before it. This team will need to solidify their roster going forward and chalk all of this up to Talent Evaluation and give the Mickies, Taimous and the Seagulls of the world an opportunity to play out of this rut together. A new coach will need the next ½ of this inaugural season to evaluate everything that is going on, a potential blessing in disguise for the Fuel. If Rascal was as big of an issue as people are alleging it seems Dallas is trying to cut the negativity out of the roster meaning that now more than ever Mickie’s optimism and passion might be exactly what the Fuel needs.

It would be overselling to say Mickie is the best player on the team, but letting his talents waste away on the bench would be throwing away a chance at stability and positivity that the Fuel need desperately. There needs to be consistency to allow a player who was considered the best at his specific role and that had shown it on the big stage before OWL to find his wheels again. The answer to the Dallas Fuel’s issues may already be on their roster, but now it’s up to them to figure that out.