As the 2019 Season of the Overwatch League draws to its end, it’s time to reflect on the year. In this series, I will tell the story of each of the 20 OWL teams, then go over what to change for next year.

Today, I’m going to kick things off with the Florida Mayhem. Sitting in last place in the league’s overall standings, there is obviously a lot to talk about, and not much of it good. From disappointing pickups to absolutely abysmal management, the Florida Mayhem have cemented themselves as the clowns of the 2019 season.

Something To Prove

Image from Watchpoint

After an unflattering 7–33 record in Season 1, the Florida Mayhem had something to prove coming into Season 2. Ready to turn over a new leaf, the Mayhem was ready to make some major roster changes. With Season 1 players such as Johan “CWoosH” Klingestedt and Sebastian “Zebbosai” Olsson obviously looking washed, it was time to start over.

However, the Mayhem’s choices of who to keep and who to drop were unexpected, to say the least. The Mayhem let go of some of their best players, namely hitscan DPS Andreas “Logix” Berghmans, as well as players like Aleksi “Zuppeh” Kuntsi and Joonas “zappis” Alakurtti who showed promise at the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. Meanwhile, they kept players Sunghoon “aWesomeguy” Kim and Kevyn “TviQ” Lindstrom who showed to be mediocre at best during the 2018 season.

With only aWesomeguy (now going as SNT), TviQ, and star DPS Jeongwoo “Sayaplayer” Ha left on the lineup, the Mayhem was in dire need of some new talent. But the Mayhem’s new pickups were anything but impressive. Starting with Jaemo “XepheR” Koo, a mediocre offtank from the Seoul Dynasty, the Mayhem then promoted flex support Hyeonwoo “HaGoPeun” Jo and DPS Damon “Apply” Conti from their Academy team onto their main roster, HaGoPeun as a starter and Apply as a two-way player. Next came veteran support Junsoo “Kris” Choi and DPS Sangbum “BQB” Lee from Contenders Korea, despite neither of which being well-known for their talent in the region. Sangwon “Swon” Yoon, a main tank from NRG Esports, was the final player pickup of the Mayhem’s offseason. After that, they fired coach Hyunjin “r2der” Choi, and picked up 2 new coaches: Marvin “Promise” Schroder from the academy team, and Yongsu “yeah” Jeong from Lucky Future Zenith.

Looking at their final roster for 2019, the new Mayhem didn’t look great, to be honest. Sure, Sayaplayer was an insane Widowmaker, Kris had some good moments on Lucio back in the APEX days, BQB had a pretty good Sombra, and HaGoPeun had a couple of breakout performances back on the London Spitfire. But there were still problems. Neither SNT nor Swon looked like they could handle the upper-tier main tanks, and XepheR’s offtank play was only a fraction of what it was in scrims. Compared to Shanghai, who has completely rebuilt their roster and picked up the core of an established Korean team, the Mayhem looked like a bunch of mediocre pieces randomly thrown together.

All in all, the 2019 Mayhem was looking more and more like a repeat of last year.

Low Expectations

Image from Dot Esports

The Mayhem kicked off the 2019 Season in the “Battle of McDonald’s”, where they were absolutely wiped by the Atlanta Reign. Despite decent performances from BQB and HaGoPeun, the Mayhem just looked bad. Neither TviQ nor Sayaplayer nor Apply looked particularly comfortable on Brigitte, and XepheR and Swon were looking like major liabilities. After barely defeating a Boombox-less Philadelphia Fusion and signing offtank Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey, the Mayhem went on to finish Stage 1 in 19th place with a 1–6 record, even giving the Washington Justice their first win.

Despite owner Ben Spoont’s claims of “not going full Korean,” the Mayhem ended up doing just that in the break between Stages 1 and 2. TviQ, Apply, and McGravy were all made inactive before eventually being dropped, and all three coaches Vytis “Mineral” Lasaitis, yeah, and Promise were let go, with coach INSIGHT from O2 Blast picked up to take their place. However, the Stage 2 Mayhem looked even worse than Stage 1, with XepheR now starting due to McGravy’s departure. People were even saying that the academy team could do better than the Mayhem. After going 0–7 in Stage 2, the Mayhem was in desperate need of some changes.

A New Hope?

Image from The Game Haus

After a dreadful 0–7 Stage 2, the Mayhem were quick to make use of the signing window. First came the trade of McGravy, as well as Russell “FCTFCTN” Campbell and Johannes “Shax” Nielsen from the academy team, to the LA Valiant. In return came main tank Panseung “Fate” Koo. Despite Fate’s stellar performances in the 2018 Season and the World Cup, the Valiant began to fall apart in 2019, wanting to move to a more Western roster, and the Mayhem needed a new main tank, making veteran player Fate a perfect fit. Next was the signing of flex support Seongjoo “Byrem” Lee. This decision was more questionable, considering how HaGoPeun was undoubtedly the lone bright spot of the Mayhem in 2019, and Byrem looked fairly average coming from NA Contenders. SNT, who was serving as both a player and a coach, then left the team, which was unsurprising considering how he had not gotten an ounce of playtime over Swon so far. Jaeho “RaiN” Park, a main support from O2 Blast, was signed to challenge Kris for a starting role, and the Mayhem finished the mid-season break by signing the core of the Korean team Armament: main tank Sanha “Karayan” Choi, off tank Beomjun “Gargoyle” Lee, DPS Yongjun “DPI” Choi, head coach Namhun “Unread” Oh, and assistant coach Hyungil “KH1” Kim.

The Armament pickups were, without question, exactly what the Mayhem needed to recover their abysmal first half. However, only Fate, Byrem, and RaiN were able to make it to LA by the time Stage 3 started, and the Mayhem ended up looking at another depressing stage. Even with Fate looking ten times better than Swon, XepheR was still the worst offtank in the league, and Byrem and RaiN looked worse than HaGoPeun and Kris, respectively. Despite an unexpected win over the inconsistent Houston Outlaws, the Mayhem went 1–6 once again in Stage 3, now completely eliminated from playoff contention. The Mayhem, as a franchise, had failed once again.

A New Hope

Image from The Game Haus

By the time Stage 4 arrived with the new 2–2–2 role lock, there was no mathematical way for the Mayhem to make playoffs. The best they could do from here was to prove that they weren’t completely trash by using 2–2–2 to their advantage. The pieces were there: Sayaplayer’s Widowmaker, Fate’s Orisa, and BQB’s Mei had the potential to perform, but could they do it?

By now, the Armament members had arrived, but neither DPI nor Karayan were fit for the meta, especially after just arriving. Gargoyle, however, was ready to take XepheR’s spot as the starting D.Va and Roadhog player, and the Mayhem, with their new Stage 4 roster, prepared for their last chance to prove themselves.

After getting absolutely rolled by the unstoppable Vancouver Titans and getting reverse-swept by the rising Washington Justice, things looked all but over for the Mayhem. Up next was a London Spitfire team who were looking like one of the top dogs of Stage 4. But, to the absolute shock of everyone watching, the Mayhem did the unthinkable by slaying the giants in a 3–0 sweep.

Everything started to fall in place for the Mayhem. After two wins against the Defiant and an absolute stomp over the Uprising, the Mayhem finished Stage 4 with a proud 4–3 record in 6th place, a franchise high. They looked good. Fate’s veteran leadership held them together, HaGoPeun was popping off, Kris’ Baptiste was playing well above average, and Sayaplayer was going absolutely nuts now that he could finally play his signature Widowmaker again. But without a doubt, the standout of the Stage 4 Mayhem was Gargoyle. With some of the best Roadhog hook accuracy in the league, as well as some solid usage of Defense Matrix on D.Va, Gargoyle proved himself to be the missing piece to the Mayhem’s 2-year-old problem.

Looking Forward

Image from Watsco Center

The Mayhem saved themselves in Stage 4 from being a complete laughingstock, but a last-place finish is nothing to be proud of. Florida will have to prove themselves once again in 2020, but luckily for them, they have the parts. Let’s look at what they should do to come back swinging in Season 3.

As of now, the coaching staff of Unread, INSIGHT, and KH1 have been fine, the Armament coaches being a big part of the Mayhem’s Stage 4 resurgence. And despite General Manager Scott “BEARHANDS” Tester’s terrible reputation, he deserves some credit for being able to save the team by picking up the Armament core. So far, looking at the org, no changes need to be made for 2020. Of course, it couldn’t hurt to have one more coach, so I would recommend Minhyung “Chilhwa” Park from O2 Blast, previously on Armament. Compared to the team’s head coach, Sukhoon “O2Boss” Jin, Chilhwa had a lesser role, but he has an impressive resume and won’t cost too much. In addition, he has already coached with Unread and KH1.

With a full 12-man roster, the Mayhem should first concern themselves with cutting some fat. Swon and XepheR should be the first to go, neither looking like anything but liabilities over the course of the season. In addition, I don’t think DPI has any value over Sayaplayer at all, so, despite him being an integral part of the Armament core, it would be for the best to trade him away.

Now we’re looking at just Sayaplayer and BQB as our DPS. With 12-man rosters looking more and more useful in Season 3, we should try to find two more DPS players to round out our damage section. Considering how it’s all but confirmed that we’re sticking to an all-Korean roster, let’s look at Contenders Korea.

My first choice is going to be Minseok “Arrow” Park from O2 Blast. Despite his lack of playtime ever since the merger with Armament, Arrow was one of the better DPS during Contenders 2019 Season 1 and will fit in well with the O2 Blast/Armament theme the Mayhem have. My last pick will be free agent Hosung “TTuba” Lee, another O2 Blast alum. TTuba will be the Mayhem’s projectile specialist in 2020, known for his proficiency on Genji, Pharah, and Doomfist.

Next up is to find a backup offtank for Gargoyle. My pick here is Jaehoon “Hoon” Choi from Skyfoxes in NA Contenders. With a strong D.Va and Zarya, Hoon is also an old teammate of Sayaplayer and Kris back on Meta Athena during APEX.

We’re keeping the supports the same, as both HaGoPeun and Kris have looked really good in Stage 4, and Byrem and RaiN have shown promise. Here’s our Mayhem 2020 roster:

DPS: Sayaplayer, BQB, Arrow, TTuba

Tank: Fate, Gargoyle, Karayan, Hoon

Support: HaGoPeun, Kris, Byrem, RaiN

General Manager: BEARHANDS

Head Coach: Unread

Assistant Coach: INSIGHT, KH1, Chilhwa

With that, let’s #bringthemayhem