Old Gods (Formerly Superstars)

Final Grade: C+

Spacestation Gaming

Final Grade: B

Tempo Storm

Final Grade: C

Gale Force Esports

Final Grade: B

Team Freedom

Final Grade: B-

Roll20 Esports

Final Grade: A

Ending not with a bang, but with a whimper, the Rosterpocalypse season has come to a close. With Spacestation Gaming and Gale Force Esports, we have now uncovered the final rosters for every team that will enter the 2018 HGC season. This was by far the most interesting offseason we've had yet in the game's history. We saw old teammates reunite, veterans removed or retire, and even one player un-retire before their retirement really even mattered. Now that everything is out in the open, it's time to assess how each team navigated the first official HGC offseason. First up will be North America. Who upgraded, who downgraded, and who just managed to survive? We'll take a look at them all, and assign letter grades based on the potential of their shiny new roster.To begin, we'll go in reverse order of the standings from last season.. Later on I plan to do a more in depth preview and prediction for the region, so today we'll be ignoring HeroesHearth and Imported Support (now LFM), as neither team was allowed to make any roster changes. They basically automatically get passing grades by not having any of their players lose an arm, or get eaten by a shark or something. If you're unsure of the official rosters, check out the announcement from Blizzard. With that out of the way, on to grades!Srey has been on a steady downward trend for some time. It's unfortunate, but no surprise that he did not find a home on any NA roster this offseason. YoDa, on the other hand, was a key pillar for this team, and a piece they could have built around had he not gone to greener pastures on Team Freedom. Lastly, Iakona was always a solid support, but never in that elite class with the likes of Buds and Jun.That said, the replacements for these three players provide far more questions than answers. The packaged deal of KingCaffeine and K1pro guarantees that the squad will have at least two role swaps. K1 will be moving to support, and either Erho or Caff will be taking on the offlane role. While we have no way to evaluate those moves right now, it could ultimately be a blessing for both players. Caff and K1 have both struggled to find an identity within the constantly evolving meta of HOTS. It could be that this new roster provides an opportunity for both players to rediscover themselves and build a new identity. That said, I expect a great deal of struggle from this roster early on. Someone will have to step up and lead this team through choppy waters in the first few weeks if they ever hope to avoid relegation. It will take time for everyone to adapt to their new roles.The most interesting acquisition for Old Gods, to me, is Zuna. I've been very vocal in defending Zuna's mechanics and prowess as a primary ranged assassin. Unfortunately, we've seen him trying to make the tank role work for the better part of two years now. With two primary tank players on the roster, we may finally see Zuna return to his proper role. As I said before, so much is unknown about this roster, but there is a world where it ends up finding success in the long run. The biggest question will be if these players have the patience and fortitude to stay the course with their chosen roles to build up their synergy and master their new positions.Superstars was an average roster at best. There were no solid upgrades made, but the new roster has enough upside to be considered a better overall roster than the 2017 iteration.SSG showed some bright moments throughout the 2017 season, but ultimately never found their footing to truly challenge the top tier teams. They were the first team to release their former players, removing TigerJK and TalkingTrees. TigerJK has grown as a player, but was never regarded as a top talent at the position even in a region struggling to find enough good supports for every team. Similarly, Trees was always a solid player with potential, but never a star in the scene.In their place, the team has acquired Tomster and Jschritte. It breaks my heart to see Tomster still likely in the support role. However, he did manage to show promise in his short time on the role despite the mess that was Naventic's squad. We've known since 2015 that Tomster was a highly talented player. With a more cohesive roster, he could very well be a solid upgrade over TigerJK at the position. The team's other new addition, Jschritte, brings with him a bucket of upside. He was consistently the standout player for his team in each of his appearances at international events. Now with top tier NA teams to scrim against, I expect his skill to only improve over the next year. The returning core of Spacestation also has potential for growth. Casanova was a standout rookie moving to the tank role, and still has plenty of room for growth. Jason and Equinox are veterans and proven talent that should perform even better if they have in fact upgraded the squad with their new players.By all accounts, this should be a stronger roster than the 2017 version. However, the new additions are largely unproven in their current roles, leaving too many questions to give these moves an "A".The most stable roster in North America has finally made a change. The roster parted ways with Fury and Cauthon. While most fans should have been able to predict Cauthon's departure, I was genuinely surprised to see Fury removed. Good tank players are at a premium in NA, and Fury is among the best in the region. Short of pulling Justing away from Roll20, it would have been nearly impossible for Tempo Storm to find an upgrade at the tank position.Rather than try to replace him, Tempo chose to bring in two of the most high profile free agents this offseason--Fan and Glaurung. Both players are known for their talent but neither fills the gaping hole left by Fury's absence. The team will instead shift Cattlepillar to the tank position and operate with essentially three flex players in Fan, Glau, and Psalm. Every member of this Tempo Storm roster is regarded among the most talented players in the region as an individual, but I have serious concerns about the roster as a whole. Tempo tried putting Cattle in the tank position this past season with mixed results. In truth, every concern about this roster revolves around Cattlepillar. There's nothing to suggest he will be an upgrade over Fury at the tank position, and the team did not bring in anyone to take over his role in the offlane. Reportedly Glaurung is currently filling that role, but we've seen less than stellar results from Glau's bruiser play in the past. If Fan moves into the role, it leaves Tempo in the same position they had with Cauthon in the roster--with two flex players and no true primary ranged assassin. This is a roster with enough talent to outperform the weaker teams in the region, but I expect disappointing results against any roster with equally talented players.Both Glau and Fan are upgrades over Cauthon mechanicallly, but it is the cohesiveness of this roster that I have concerns about. Tempo's offseason appears more as a group of good players getting together and trying to figure out roles rather than trying to build a competitive HOTS roster from the ground up.It's been a tough yea for the GFE Heroes roster given the squad's expectations. Fortunately, the organization has a world class Rocket League team, and a promising new HOTS roster to move into the 2018 season. K1pro and KingCaffeine have become problematic for every roster in the last year, and both players were replaced with direct upgrades in the offseason. Break out your favorite "Fury was the problem" meme, because the tank main has returned. As easily one of the three best tanks in the region, he is a strong upgrade at the position for this roster.Similarly, while K1 has a legacy as one of the best ranged players to ever shoot things, that legacy has not stood the test of time. Bigempct has been trapped on a floundering Naventic roster that lacked identity, and had no proper frontline to protect him. Now with an elite tank guarding him, and a strong veteran support, Bige should return to his former glory.The squads last new addition is Bkid, which seems like a potentially awkward pickup, but the former tank main has been grinding in the offlane and showed promise at the end of his time with Lag Force. With more cohesive roles, Gale Force is in a position to improve over last year's incarnation. That said, there are still concerns about the roster. MichaelUdall had to "unretire" in order for GFE to keep their spot in the league, and has struggled to find a true role identity ever since Fan joined the roster. With the new squad, versatility and drafting could be an exploitable weakness.Fury is a huge get for the squad, and I have high hopes for Bige and Bkid. That said, the team still lost one of the most talented players in the region in Fan, and brought a player out of retirement in order to field a legal roster, so it is difficult to call this offseason a pure "win".Between Roll20 and Team Freedom, the top of NA was turned on its head during the 2017 season. With the addition of Kure for phase 2, TF exploded out of the gate and never looked back. Every member of this roster showed promise at Blizzcon, and the future looked bright for this roster. Unfortunately, the future looked even brighter to Kure and Daneski on the first place team, Roll20. The loss of both players is a huge blow to the team.That said, Team Freedom did well finding replacements. YoDa has proven himself to be a versatile talent, and Lutano managed to stand out and impress even on a floundering Even in Death roster. Team Freedom has already proven they can take a talented rookie and turn them into a star, perhaps they can do the same for Lutano in his sophomore season. Importantly, TF managed to hold onto their tank and support, who both had impressive 2017 seasons. Killuzion is coming into his own as a support, and Zugrug is right on the edge of being regarded among the best tanks in the game. Nazmas has also shown himself to have the mechanics and hero pool to contend with any flex player in the region. Retaining their core and bringing on talent with upside, Team Freedom shows promise despite some tough losses in the offseason.While Lutano has a ton of promise, he lacks the pedigree to be considered an upgrade. Team Freedom really came into their own when Kure joined the roster, it would be difficult to consider any moves made by TF a pure upgrade with arguably their best player no longer on the roster.No team had a better season, or a more surprising one, than Roll20. Limping through the last qualifiers, Team 8 was an unproven squad with no expectations. Since then, the team has proven themselves again and again. To continue their hot streak next season, the squad parted ways with Prismaticism and Glaurung. Many fans were concerned about the loss of Glaurung in particular, but through interviews with players and the team's manager, Yitbaus, most of those concerns have been dispelled.Justing has been the team's lead drafter and shotcaller for months, including during their nearly undefeated run in the final phase of 2017. In reality, what Roll20 lost in Glau was simply a high level Medivh, and a difficult team atmosphere that had been plaguing them for months. By all accounts, Roll20's new members, Kure and Daneski, have been a wonderful addition to the roster. both players are hungry to prove themselves, humble in team discussions, and bring high level mechanics and deep hero pools. Already during Gold Club we've seen R2e access drafts that were locked away from the old roster. With a renewed mentality, more versatility, and the same core talent that made them the best in the region, Roll20 Esports enters the 2018 stronger than ever.Roll20 filled the gaps in their roster with players well-suited to their needs, and retained the best core trio in the region. This is easily the strongest roster going into the season, and should only get better as the team fleshes out their drafting.