One Updoot, One Downdoot: 2020 Overwatch League Preseason Edition, Part 3 (Atlantic South Division) sgbros1 Follow Jan 6 · 6 min read

Ah the Atlantic South Division. I remember when it was basically the laughing stock of the entire league.

The division had three of the seven teams that went 0–7 in a stage. Three.

But all the teams have retooled and it appears they might be one of the stronger divisions in the league. Let’s get a glance of the teams’ new looks in this episode of One Updoot, One Downdoot: Overwatch League 2020 Preseason Edition!

I’m sorry, but I used paint.net for the shield image…

Atlanta Reign (16–12, 5–6th Place, Playoffs)

Out: NLaaeR (DPS), Daco (Off-tank), FunnyAstro (Support)

In: SharP (DPS), Edison (DPS), Hawk (Off-tank)

My updoot:

Them plus SharP is arguably the #1 DPS lineup in the League. Probably even beating Shock or NYXL.

My downdoot: From this NLaaeR tell-all interview, I’m a little bit worried about head coach Sephy’s coaching style. Hopefully Atlanta doesn’t fall into the same hole as EnVyUs when they became the Dallas Fuel 📉.

My recommended addition: Fire

Well Atlanta has almost all their roster covered by now. They have 4 DPS and 4 tanks. The only part where they’re still kinda lacking is some support backups, so I decided to pick Fire as a backup main support. He’s been a solid main support ever since his EnVision days in 2017, just another steady rock that Atlanta (or any team for that matter) and rely on. I was kinda torn between him and Crimzo, but I decided to put Crimzo on Dallas.

Houston Outlaws (9–19)

Out: JAKE (DPS), Bani (Support)

In: blase with an accent (DPS), Hydration (DPS), MekO (Off-tank), rapel (Support)

My updoot: Great to see Houston patching up their weak spots, even if it meant adding Koreans to a full Western roster (we do not speak of the airblade master). coolmatt and SPREE, while they looked good pre-OWL and maybe even in 2018, they have lagged behind the rest of the league. And Rawkus probably needs to stop that feed or fuck mentality because it usually ends up with the former, so some competition for the starting spot would be nice.

My downdoot: Aren’t blase (with an accent) and Hydration basically the same person? Don’t they have almost the exact same hero pools? Unless…

̶M̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ ̶J̶e̶c̶s̶e̶

̶W̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶ ̶H̶o̶u̶s̶t̶o̶n̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶p̶a̶t̶c̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶k̶ ̶s̶p̶o̶t̶s̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶’̶r̶e̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶g̶l̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶k̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶.̶ ̶W̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶B̶o̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶w̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶L̶u̶c̶i̶o̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶g̶u̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶p̶p̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶p̶.̶ ̶P̶l̶u̶s̶,̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶…̶q̶u̶e̶s̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶s̶t̶.̶ ̶S̶o̶ ̶I̶’̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶b̶r̶i̶n̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶E̶M̶ ̶r̶e̶u̶n̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶!̶ ̶J̶e̶c̶s̶e̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶r̶a̶p̶e̶l̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶E̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶M̶y̶s̶t̶i̶c̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶C̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶d̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶2̶0̶1̶8̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶n̶’̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶p̶o̶t̶e̶n̶t̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶.̶

(okay the Outlaws actually did it let’s try this again)

My recommended addition: ONIGOD

People like to point to Outlaws having a sole main tank as one of their weak spots, but I think having Muma alone is alright for the team. I don’t think Outlaws are inclined to rotate players around in-game save for the DPS or maybe off-tank slots, so a substitute main tank might be left rotting on the bench (see: FCTFCTN in 2018).

As with the LA Gladiators, having Linkzr as your sole source of hitscan seems quite risky since he is quite streaky. ONIGOD has been a reliable hitscan player in Europe throughout 2018 and 2019. Plus, more European representation in the League, who wouldn’t ask for that?

Philadelphia Fusion (15–13)

Out: snillo (DPS), Kyb (DPS), Eqo (DPS), neptuNo (Support), Elk (Support)

In: Heesu (DPS), Ivy (DPS), ChipSa (DPS), Eqo (DPS), Fury (Off-tank), Alarm (Support), FunnyAstro (Support)

My updoot: This new DPS duo of Heesu and Ivy is actually silently pog. Even though Heesu was the failed experiment of Sp9rk1e 2.0*, he’s no slouch, especially with some more time grinding it out in Contenders. Ivy has been stuck in Brig and/or Zarya jail, but would’ve been one of the most promising DPS players coming out of Contenders last year. His DPS play alongside then teammate climax on O2 Ardeont was what allowed them to make that miracle run to the grand finals (by beating Element Mystic!) in Contenders 2018 Season 1. Together, they are probably a sleeper contender for best DPS duo in 2020, behind the likes of Erster/Edison or whatever the NYXL/Shock field.

(*For those wondering what this means, a lil’ history lesson for ya. Back in Contenders 2018 S2, Sp9rk1e was suspended for the entire Contenders season due to account selling. In the last week of the regular season, they brought in a little known player named Himgosu, which was said by Achilios and/or Wolf to be Sp9rk1e’s replacement for the season. He and his team then promptly got spanked by MVP Space 4–0, which was I think the first time EM lost a match without winning a map, at least since Contenders began. That win also led MVP Space to qualify for playoffs, the first time for the org since the APEX days. That little known player, Himgosu? He’s now called Heesu.)

My downdoot:

(onlooky)

My recommended addition: Kaiser

The legend needs a spot in the Overwatch League. He’s been overdue, like two years now. And this is one of the most perfect spots for Kaiser to end up on. A stacked as fuck roster, and fucking Comcast money. And the Fusion need him too. If Sado’s Reinhardt is the problem, wouldn’t the eye of the Kaiser fix that?

Florida Mayhem (6–22)

Out: DPI/Creature (DPS), xepheR (Off-tank), SwoN (Tank), HaGoPeun (Support), RaiN (Support)

In: Yaki (DPS), Gangnamjin (Support)

My updoot: THEY GOT RUNAWAY POG (well not all of RunAway but close enough). At least their new RunAway pickups will be patching up (almost) all of the holes in their roster.

My downdoot: Perhaps they just need more. Compared to other teams like NYXL or Fusion it just seems like the Mayhem doesn’t have that much depth in their roster.

My recommended addition: NUS

Mayhem’s weakest spot right now is most probably main support with just Kris on the roster (even though Kris isn’t like Zebbosai or something). Although NUS isn’t really an all-star name, he does have championship experience so that must count for something?

(Fun fact: If this happens Kris and NUS will be reunited after they both played on Meta Athena, interestingly enough with NUS on flex support instead)

Honourable mention: Coma

Credit to Banterlife

Washington Justice (8–20)

Out: Ado (DPS), SanSam (Off-tank), janus (Tank), sleepy (Support), Gido (Support), Hyeonu (Support)

In: TTuba (DPS), rOar (Tank), AimGod (Support)

My updoot: Actually it’s about a coach addition…

My downdoot: Same sitch as Florida. Their bench seems not very deep (since they’re at League minimum), and while I do believe in Mr. Johnathan Glat, if the players aren’t performing up to snuff, then Justice are kinda stuck with those players for at least quite a while. Visas could take quite a while to sort out (just look at the two Swedes on the roster), plus it takes time to integrate new players.

My recommended addition: Lr1s

Since I can only add one player, I decided to add a substitute to the support lineup. And with a Pacific head coach, of course I would add a Pacific flex support (I known Lr1s is Korean and is now on TI but shut up he played in Pacific Contenders). The kid could honestly become like the next JJonak or Twilight or Shu or whatever. He has some nutty aim. And to quote my Third Impact over.gg news piece,

“ Though only joining midway through the season, he never lost a match during the regular season, allowing Far East Society to finish in second place in the round robin.”

The final part of this quartet (as in a trilogy but with four parts instead) will be dropping sometime in a few days, alongside my power rankings for the season! For right now, though, if you’ve missed the previous parts of this series you can check out Part 1 covering the Atlantic North division here and Part 2 covering the Pacific West division here.

And in Tier 2 news, Contenders China seeding tournament starts today in _ hours. Catch the most entertaining region in the world live today! Streams can be found on the over.gg event page.