come on strong poles
#esports-discussion
sullen berry
I lowkey want italy to pop off this weekend
no other reason than be the most improved in the middle of the standings
tawny sigil
That payload is going "Deja Vu"
gaunt acorn
polan stronk
sullen berry
the midtier is actually far more exciting to watch
this is like a reverse battles of the death in bangkok
I'm seeing this as who has the most standout performance despite not having a enough luck with the top 2 spots
queen drift
Anyone can scrim
tawny sigil
Jake is my pro caster of choices
sullen berry
cough #community-announcements
drowsy fulcrum
🅱oland
drowsy fulcrum
wrong score lmao
sullen berry
Italy with 2-1? heh
a fresh map roster this match
no rialto
picked horizon
¯_(ツ)_/¯
pearl stratus
After last night I'm pretty sure this is going to the most overall boring bracket in the groupings.
Like the Us/Canada bracket I knew what was going to happen but at least Brazil/Switzerland etc had some stand out players.
sullen berry
Honestly, I'm surprised I even made it through the sleeper hit that was france v dutch
pearl stratus
The Bangkok Bracket was overall just really good to watch
sullen berry
it went by so fast
pearl stratus
This one they should just move France through, and cancel the rest of the series.
sullen berry
this is the opposite of bangkok in terms of competition
this match is the best so far of the three played
pearl stratus
Yeah. beyond France I didn't see anyone who I was like "Wow. Look at this person go"
sullen berry
they're only middle of the standings teams
this is the only reason you would want to watch this weekend
pearl stratus
No Teetawat, Patiphan etc. No Guxue.
sullen berry
so find yourself some new hope
tardy jackal
https://clips.twitch.tv/SpineyBlatantCaterpillarDoubleRainbow you think this was done on purpose? it seems kind of cheaty
pearl stratus
No Liko, Alemao etc.
sullen berry
those three aren't what you call carpe, zappis, or jjonak
pearl stratus
Yeah but its a focus on people who aren't in OWL showing a skillset of being able to be, is more what I mean (minus Patiphan age)
sullen berry
you know what I'm comparing here
pearl stratus
I like finding contenders/etc players who you can obviously see able to move up.
sullen berry
I love how much of a star he'll be for Xavier esports come season 3 pacific contenders
pearl stratus
Like I may just be ignorant of the Chinese contenders scene but I had no clue who Guxue was going into those brackets.
And I'll probably never forget him now.
Because he's looked like the best tank out of ALL the teams.
Not just of his division.
sullen berry
I never took much attention of the tanks for china
so guxue was never really the standout, despite the worthy praise
pearl stratus
Going through his match stats its also bananas crazy.
He was something like 76-27 against Thailand.
Just a wrecking ball of doom
sullen berry
thailand with the biggest of balls to take out that many map wins
pearl stratus
But then you got Sweden to disappoint you - Sweden who's best OWL player was the analyst, not the actual players.
Apparently Tviq didn't get the memo that DPS are supposed to kill people.
tawny sigil
2v5 win?
sullen berry
only happens with this kind of tier
pearl stratus
Italys D'va should have corner swooped that door when Poland was in it but he sat to the side spamming.
sullen berry
I would rewatch this matchup again from the top
not because it went to a map 5
but I've listened to the second half of this all in french
sullen berry
it's nearly going to go 99%/99%
gaunt acorn
sullen berry
shit
it's gonna
this display rivals that of finland vs south korea on a new level
🇮🇹
this crowd was a lot bigger than i thought
limber pine
it helps that their team is legit
sullen berry
DragonEddy is chinese?
:surewow:
I am shook on a new level
ILIOS
if SK are watching this to prep for the 2nd seeded team they might face at blizzcon
they would be able to go triple dps and go tank buster on them
given the EU playstyles we've seen this patch
pearl stratus
I think they would have turned this map off already, I don't forsee SK being worried about an offense with a soldier missing a nano-visor.
It's working for them right now because Germany is not exactly showing German efficiency in their scattered quick play.
pallid dirge
germany 3rd best btw 
pearl stratus
Third best is just the second loser.
sullen berry
who would win in a hybrid match? Germany or Sweden?
pallid dirge
they're worse than france and UK, and will get clapped by the netherlands now
pallid dirge
they played really poorly against the UK
pearl stratus
Sweden was at least coordinated.
sullen berry
Get clapped by italy, now they have positive momentum
pearl stratus
Wrong channel, and just a heads up that someone will probably delete your post.
I'd go hit up the LFG channels.
sullen berry
@vivid canopy you'll also want to do a little youtube search for Jayne's discord if you want to look for more players
there's others, but might as well start with the name
clever ravine
Whoa been awhile since I have seen quad tank
feral wing
will it ever be possible to buy the overwatch world cup country skins
guess this may go under general or overwatch discussion too
clever ravine
A lot of them are really cool
pearl stratus
Personally I doubt it unless Blizzard begins testing more real time release of tokens and adds them into the OWL section
Which could work.
clever ravine
I would be okay with that
pearl stratus
So you'd have OWL -> Team Skins then OWWC Skins.
feral wing
I would love that
pearl stratus
But its up to Blizzard if they think its profitable enough
feral wing
they already have the skins though
its just about letting us purchase and use them in-game.
pearl stratus
Yeah, its just do they think it would make them enough money.
feral wing
it probably would
pearl stratus
Especially since upkeep on them every time you get a new hero, etc, etc.
Skins are their own investment process.
clever ravine
They need to give tokens out for World Cup
feral wing
maybe only let you purchase them while the overwatch world cup is going on?
pearl stratus
Tokens for world cup would cause a shit storm though.
Look at the timing around the Paris qualifiers.
feral wing
would be better to use the owl tokens
pearl stratus
And it was a constant source of bitching.
So now they're just doing a service, they heard peoples complaints about the time zones in OWL so they chose to not release tokens so no one feels like they have to watch.
feral wing
I would just love to be able to buy the Team Norway skins to support my country
feral wing
woah are germany gonna do it
pearl stratus
Again - I think they should do it.
feral wing
wtf lol
long belfry
I would make region locked streams in that case
feral wing
HOLY
fast basin
Akm got a blade! In a MINUTE
clever ravine
On other note, CRNKZ is a really good Doomfist
feral wing
THE COMEBACK
pearl stratus
But there's got to be a profit margin question for them.
clever ravine
Better than most OWL players that try to play that character tbh
pearl stratus
Eh Counter point on that.
long belfry
If the stage is in NA, EU and the rest watches the replay and gets tokens there
pearl stratus
Most Doomfist don't get as much freedom in OWL.
pearl stratus
It was like watching Zacharee doomfist against Switzerland.
Yes, he's a great Doomfist.
But Switzerland also had NO CLUE what to do about him.
So it makes the player look even better.
long belfry
I would do region locked streams
pearl stratus
Eh if you're doing that, you'd be better off opening it up for all the streams.
Because what if I work nights, so I'm asleep during the day.
long belfry
So people dont abuse it
pearl stratus
So watching it on the NA stream is better for me.
clever ravine
Also, OWL didn't play this meta
pearl stratus
Thanks for fucking me for my work schedule Blizz.
clever ravine
Against GOATS Doom has more space
long belfry
What I mean is that each region should have their own replay at a specific time
pearl stratus
Yeah, I'm more saying the level of skill between OWWC and OWL also lets people pop off at a bit higher level sometimes.
Yeah but I'm asleep during that time because I work nights.
long belfry
And you can only watch one of the streams to get tokens
pearl stratus
I'm saying its not a bad idea.
long belfry
So people dont abuse it
pearl stratus
You can already do that.
Lower your stream to lowest quality.
Leave it running in the background.
Watch a VOD later.
long belfry
Twitch must have a wayy of knowing if you watched the stream before
So you can watch it again
But without getting more tokens
pearl stratus
I'm saying its an overthought when you could just leave it running.
pearl stratus
The issue is Vods don't matter to investors - even if its a new unique view.
If you're a business investing in a commercial slot you don't want your commercial to be on the vod.
People just skip it.
So the live stream is the only numbers that matter.
long belfry
I leave it on plugged and set it to shut down when the stream ends
pearl stratus
Which is why Blizzard does tokens the way they do, it helps inflate live viewer numbers even if half of them are just leaving a stream running
long belfry
And it still pisses me off that they do ads on top of the Twitch ones
long belfry
I dont use tv anyways
pearl stratus
I'm more saying that like..
Toyota - if they're paying $25-50,000 per commercial they don't want that commercial to be skipped. So the VOD isn't a number they'll look at.
long belfry
They went full EA with some things though
They waited untill most people spent the tokens to release the all star skins
pearl stratus
I mean they released the all star skins during the all star event basically.
long belfry
And charged 30 usd for a pack of skins
@pearl stratus but they released details before
They should have done it so people knew how they would get them
pearl stratus
They released the details over two weeks before.
warped axle
🇮🇹
pearl stratus
Official release was August 10th, AS Weekend was the 25th.
You had two weeks, they listed the skins and prices.
In fact they reduced the price by 33%.
From 300 down to 200.
So you got two weeks notice and a price reduction by a third.
long belfry
And 10 for the pacific/atlantic
pearl stratus
Dunno what to tell you.
long belfry
I spent it on team skins
pearl stratus
So you're upset because you spent all your money right away and something new was released.
long belfry
No
pearl stratus
Do you not save any gold on your account for event skins?
long belfry
I save gold
long belfry
Most people asumed that you would get them by watching
vagrant niche
get what?
pearl stratus
The All Star Weekend skins.
Which none of my friends were stupid enough to think that, but okay.
Don't get me wrong, Blizz does some greedy shit.
But that one was handled fairly
Hell they even handled the Twitch Prime Lucio emote fairly when they accidently leaked it early
Now you can just buy it for 200 Tokens.
pearl stratus
They just left it buyable.
You can get the DJ emote for 200 Tokens.
I bought it a week or two ago.
clever ravine
You couldn't by the regular all-star skins, right? Just their crappy looking Tracer and Genji.
pearl stratus
Yeah the Genji/Tracer division skins were the only All-star skins.
vagrant niche
i got them
vagrant niche
and i don't use them
pearl stratus
But I got it for completion.
vagrant niche
i just have too much tokens
clever ravine
The Genji one is fine
pearl stratus
Yeah, even after buying Tracer, Genji and Lucio Emote
I'm down to like 3-400 tokens.
vagrant niche
i need 1 token
clever ravine
Well 6 new teams worth of skins are dropping next season
pearl stratus
But I only bought OWL skins for heroes who I don't like their legendary skins.
Like I prefer Dynasty/Houston Pharah over most of her legendaries.
clever ravine
That's the approach I has as well
pearl stratus
Brigitte has horrible legendaries, so I got her one as well.
clever ravine
Like I got a Fusion McCree because I don't like his other skins
pearl stratus
I had gotten a D'va one, because she looked good in the LAG Purples.
But I like her Nuka Cola one for some weird reason
clever ravine
I like Waverunner or whatever
pearl stratus
Waverunner was disappointing to me after the hilarious good Reinhardt / Winston skins.
Winstons Catcher skin is damn near perfect.
vagrant niche
yall think if i ask bliz they give me a free token?
i already bought all the allstars skins
and got like 4-5 other skins
silk linden
pearl stratus
I doubt they'll do it Adrian 😛
Though speaking of OWL tokens.
I love Canadas laws with them.
Where you have to do a god damn math problem to get tokens.
pearl stratus
I'm not at home so I can't look but it was definitely in there.
pearl stratus
No worries, figured I'd help pass the knowledge along as not a lot of people know its there.
I'm like [ ] close to dropping $50 for the stupid Blizzcon Sombra skin, but I really don't care abotu Blizzcon this year lol
clever ravine
Overwatch does a shit job alerting people of OWWC events
inland lodge
clever ravine
I also dropped 50 for that Sombra skin because I play a lot of Sombra
inland lodge
eu productuction
long belfry
Sombra $kin is too expen$ive imo
clever ravine
Yes, but they really wanted people to buy that virtual ticket
I'm not even going to watch the event
Because twitter exists to alert me of news
pearl stratus
I mean its not just for the skin.
It's just a virtual ticket bonus.
I just don't care about the virtual ticket, so for me it would be JUST for the skin
Which is why I haven't bought it, lol
clever ravine
I got it just for the skin
vagrant niche
the skin is coming next year anyways
pearl stratus
If the rest of the virtual ticket bonuses were decent I'd have done it.
vagrant niche
for free
clever ravine
They didn't do a great job of publicizing that to be fair
pearl stratus
But their VT bonuses and the Goodie Bag bonuses are really mediocre this year.
Well the VT bonuses they released
I'll see whats in WoW and Hearthstone
And make a decision later.
I like how WoW has become a part time job that I just use to buy Blizzard products now.
Well played Blizzard
clever ravine
I wasn't excited to drop the $50, but it didn't really put me out so I'm not too upset about it
pearl stratus
All I'm taking from this game is that its Vizility vs. Crnkz and Progi.
clever ravine
Jona is doing okay
sullen berry
nobody picked up on the new hero hype to spend one on season 2 team skins for wrecking ball?
clever ravine
How do you think they need to nerf GOATS?
warped axle
By buffing Pharah
pearl stratus
They don't need to nerf Goats. Goats has a lot of counters than just goats.
It's not like its Dive 2.0
But Goats is easy, so you're seeing countries with meh star power resorting to it a lot and not capable of flexing to much else.
warped axle
3-3 is just easy to strategize with which is why its so popular
clever ravine
I think they may need to reduce the Nano instant heal, but that is just Ana issue not a GOATS issue
warped axle
It makes bad teams look like they have a plan
pearl stratus
Right now your standard goats counter is just running Sombra + Doom.
clever ravine
Right
pearl stratus
But Pharah works amazingly well since D'va is your only contestation.
Mei works really well
But thats more on maps with tight quarters.
There's a lot you can do about Goats.
clever ravine
In my experience Mei isn't a great GOATS counter because the shields and cc
pearl stratus
It's map dependent.
warped axle
Mei is CC
pearl stratus
Say like Kings Row - Amazing Mei anti-Goats map.
Because you can split the team so often and so easily.
clever ravine
That's true
pearl stratus
If Reaper wasn't in such a bad spot he'd be solid for it too.
clever ravine
But at that point you'd just run Pharah I feel
pearl stratus
It depends what version of Goats they're running.
Because if they're running an Ana variant you'd want a Pharmercy.
And swapping to a Mercy isn't always great.
If they're running the Brig/Lucio/Moira, your Pharah doesn't need as much dedicated support.
My main point is that Goats, compared to what Dive was, has a lot more counter play.
And when you see the really good teams running it you get a fun swap heavy game.
Like Canada vs. USA.
clever ravine
I mean Goats isn't something I play against that often because people want to have fun lol
pearl stratus
I actually think GOATS is really fun to play.
But thats because I'm projectile with flex to Zarya/Brig.
clever ravine
Every once in awhile yeah
karmic grotto
REKT
clever ravine
I am not a tank fan at the moment
karmic grotto
Dutch wins from fake Dutch
clever ravine
But that depends on the season
tawny sigil
time left is freaking unreadable with this color
pearl stratus
I like current tank play for pro-meta, ladder is a bit different
Like watching pro play Brig vs Ladder Brig its two separate heroes.
Because pro teams are coordinated enough to deal with Brig.
Ladder teams say she's OP because they suck against her 😛
karmic grotto
What is Ladder Brigitte?
clever ravine
Ranked ladder
pearl stratus
Ladder Brigitte is a monster because no ones coordinated.
So they think she needs to be nerfed because they're personally bad versus her.
It's a complete no personal accountability situation.
Basically "I can't beat this hero, thus this hero must be OP."
When they're trying to play their Platinum Genji into her.
karmic grotto
lmao
clever ravine
I still think she might need a nerf. She's a little too tanky right now.
pearl stratus
Again though - thats ladder issues talking.
Look at Italys game a few moments ago.
They'd engage and delete her instantly.
clever ravine
Balance has to look at both spheres though
pearl stratus
That's dangerous though.
Because you're making the entire game worse when you balance bottom up typically.
tawny sigil
france the only country that wants a translator for the crowd and not the player
nova flicker
Is Canada out of the World Cup?
tawny sigil
whats with french people not wanting to learn english
pearl stratus
No, they're second seed for their bracket
karmic grotto
@nova flicker ?????
nova flicker
Ok good
pearl stratus
USA took top spot, Canada took second.
karmic grotto
@tawny sigil Nationalistic
nova flicker
So Canada did qualify
pearl stratus
Canada went 4-1, they were fine.
No one else in the bracket was that good minus individual performances.
nova flicker
Ok thx
clever ravine
@pearl stratus I think they could literally lower the percentage of armor she has in her health bar or lower her shield health and she would be completely playable still
pearl stratus
It's hard to tell because she's already the first target in pro-play
If she's dying every engage first, every time.
There becomes a reason to never play her.
Little touches have big ripples when tiny mistakes cost entire games for Contenders/OWL.
swift garden
can someone send me a link to the overwatch world cup stream?
swift garden
thx
pearl stratus
Yeah, I know. So if she's already dying quite a bit in these situations without nerfing her survivability how does that impact her and goats as a whole if she begins dying -every- time; just to make lower ranks feel better with her.
It's a hard spot to be in.
Also lowering her shield health wouldn't change her for Ladder.
clever ravine
It's definitely hard to tell
pearl stratus
Because people, for some reason, don't even fucking shoot her shield.
clever ravine
You're not wrong lol
pearl stratus
She starts waddling towards them with the shield up and they just fucking run away.
clever ravine
To be fair the she can solo pretty easily
pearl stratus
Yeah but to be fair minus Tracers this is not a one v. one game.
So why were you so out of position that she made it one for you?
That's her biggest issue in Ladder imo.
clever ravine
Maybe they run to get back into position because they know they'll die
pearl stratus
She -heavily- punishes bad positioning and communication.
Or people don't make the necessary swaps to deal with her.
I played a game last night where the enemy team literally just let me do whatever I wanted.
They had a Sombra too.
Sombra never hacked me
Never even attempted to
nova wadi
something hog used to do but hog was too op!!!!!!!!!!
nova wadi
i feel people just hate her cause its just another fun CC ability
pearl stratus
I think people hate her because they want to play what they want to play.
nova wadi
just like Hammond his pile driver
long belfry
They need to balance Console and Pc differently
clever ravine
I don't like her because she doesn't die
pearl stratus
And she forces you to think and swap.
clever ravine
But I like playing her
pearl stratus
@long belfry They do, most of the time.
long belfry
Because Pharah could use a buff
nova wadi
@pearl stratus barely
long belfry
But people in console get angry
pearl stratus
They're looking at Pharah soon actually.
We should get an announcement today about her.
long belfry
Because they cant aim
clever ravine
I want to see the Torb changes
nova wadi
they reverted the torb console only changes
that was i think the only thing they had that was different lol
clever ravine
I am super excited for his rework
pearl stratus
No, Widow had some buffs on console for a while too.
long belfry
What did they do?
nova wadi
for a while so it got reverted?
pearl stratus
But more and more people went M+KB on console.
Because its a huge power boost.
Since controllers are for mongos.
long belfry
Because OW is not a game suposed to be played with a controller
nova wadi
no its just that controllers dont work well in a moba-lite omegalul
nova wadi
long belfry
But you cant pop heads consistently with a controller
nova wadi
i used to turn my aim assist off in OW
long belfry
You need to be too good
pearl stratus
Aim Assist is my favorite thing because you can abuse the fuck out of it for enemy positioning.
Because you just blanket scan and wait for the pull of the Aim Assist
long belfry
And at that point, you need to pñay on pc
pearl stratus
And then you know exactly where people are
nova wadi
no tournaments like BF and COD are played on pc right ?
pearl stratus
A lot of CoD ones were, no clue about BF.
karmic grotto
WAIT WHAT
is that Roibn?
the female presentor
Robin from How I met your mother?
nova wadi
thats Soe
karmic grotto
Or it looks like her :/
clever ravine
I'd like to see Reaper played, but I also don't want him to be buffed
pearl stratus
He has a weird nutcracker point contestation niche right now.
You play him into like.. a second point Anubis you're contesting on offense.
It's so weird.
clever ravine
Yeah like I think he has the damage, but getting around cc and barriers makes it difficult for him
torpid charm
limber pine
from Kongdoo
long belfry
That feel when the Chinese team does the announcement in English and Korean but not Chinese
tawny sigil
whats this about extra spawn time punishment for overtime?
limber pine
If there's more attackers than defenders on the point, the defense will eventually get longer spawn times
tawny sigil
games done quick, not gonna be hosted in poland... lol the reference
verbal roost
long belfry
@tawny sigil its 3 seconds by default
And it increases the more time attackers outnumber defenders on point
pearl stratus
@limber pine You should probably attach the rumor that the rest of KDP would be following Blue to SHD.
pearl stratus
I love that I made a post making fun of the mkL DC rumor, and mkL took it like a joke and ribbed me back. And a bunch of people got more upset than him.
ruby pendant
It would be cool if Runaway got their full team to join, but not sure if that'll ever happen!
clever ravine
What Contenders team makes up most of the Chinese OWWC team?
clever ravine
If they are eligible for OWL in season 2, they will definitely be on a team
Especially guxue and Krystal
limber pine
Krystal is 18 and Guxue is 19
so yes
yup i checked everybody else, and they all are either of age or will be of age to participate
clever ravine
I'm sure they are all hot commodities amongst the new Chinese teams.
limber pine
they certainly helped their cause from OWWC
but it's a well known fact that the best Chinese members weren't on SHD anyway
so i think most of them were on ppl's lists already
clever ravine
Yeah I remember hearing that the SHD's team was built off of Undead's preferences or something. I'm honestly surprised they kept Diya and released Ado
pearl stratus
The missing people you'd want for the OWL that are underage are a few of the other DPS.
Like Eileen is better than Krystal in pretty much all aspects.
But he's still 17, with a late birthday that would miss all of Season 2 (Its september orsomething)
@clever ravine Diya is a sleeper DPS - we never really got to see what he can fully do because he was flexing around Undead so much.
But go back and watch the Stage 4 game against Houston, where he basically dominates an entire game as Widow and its not enough to save his team.
He's -really- good.
clever ravine
I might go back and watch that actually
pearl stratus
Ado is too, but if they've potentially been working on this for time (and the KDP thing is real) they're picking up people who play Ados stuff.
But KDPs Tracer/Hitscan is 17, so he'd be ineligible.
So keeping Diya makes the most sense from an acquirement state.
clever ravine
Speaking of Outlaws, I think Outlaws have put themselves in a bad position. They have a full roster when a bunch of excellent players are now eligible for OWL.
pearl stratus
They got rid of Mendo, clockwork and fctfctn.
That was really all the fat to trim.
clever ravine
Wait am I thinking of the right team?
There is a team with basically a full roster
pearl stratus
LAV?
Name some people on the team, I'll tell you what team it is lol
I guess you could have released Spree too, but I don't think that makes a ton of sense long term.
clever ravine
It might be the Valiant
limber pine
Is Spree's Dva better or is CoolMatt's Zarya better?
cuz right now, having a good flex tank is important
warped axle
I think Spree is just better
clever ravine
CoolMatt did not wow me as an offtank, but he was fine
@pearl stratus I was thinking Outlaws, but I guess I thought they had a full roster.
pearl stratus
It's not the off tank that matters as much as much as the synergy with the main tank, imo. And Coolmatts synergy with Muma is huge, compared to Spree. Also current meta tends to favor the dps Zarya more than the off tank one since we're in three tank land. But that's bound to change.
Unless you're looking at huge skill gaps.
limber pine
median shore
question, who is currently ranked as best Brigitte Player? Still Mickie?
warped axle
He may not be the greatest flex support, but considering Hago was on prime GC Busan I'd say he's pretty damn good
Still Mayhem is a shitty org
pearl stratus
I wouldn't automatically say Mickie. He was very good, but Dallas literally ran her 34% more than any other team so it was hard to see comparisons.
median shore
ok, so who of the "normal playtime" guys? 😃
pearl stratus
We know Agilities has a good Brig, Jake's is good too. SBB was playing it in the world cup. Sinatraa dabbles but he's more Zarya. Agilities and Sinatraa in owwc would be good looks I suppose.
copper solstice
hagopeun 
long belfry
It was hard to decide between Hagopeun and Bdosin tbh
When they looked good, they looked better than the other one
lusty roost
bitter niche
Im callin it, Dafran for SF shock
clear crane
Soon playing widow on Anubis against netherlands.... no fair
bitter niche
SF shock is possibly announcing their roster on the 25 of this month...
Dafran is already associated with NRG
Both Danteh and Sinatraa mentioned dafran as part of the roster
The official SF shock is following dafrans twitter
a lot of evidence here...
I will not be surprised of if I see dafran as part of the sf roster on the 25th
gaunt acorn
sf shock follows dafrans twitter because he's signed to nrg as a streamer
that doesn't impact him signing with atlanta
we already had multiple leaks indicating that was where he was going
in fact, they suggest he's already signed to atlanta
and is currently being vetted by blizzard
Atlanta's OWL team has signed Dafran. The deal is currently being reviewed by Blizzard while Dafran is vetted. If approved Dafran will play under Atlanta's OWL team in season 2.
i don't think the shock hype train ever made much sense
first two stages validated them as a young team
and that's considered a niche
when their average player age at the time was 18-19?
can crusty forge a playmaking leader in babybay, sinatraa, architect?
probably push babybay since it worked well for them in stage 4
but that only solidfies them as not the worst team in pacific division
almost half the Pacific division for season 2 is a measuring stick for china based orgs
queen drift
all of them have a history of professional esports
sinatraa being one of the best ladder players as well ( i know it doesnt impact it much)
sullen berry
history was not the best judgement to rely on
long belfry
Dallas and Seoul proved your point
sullen berry
one exception is whether that leads you to believe GC Busan and Kongdoo Panthera was historically impossible to lose
then that would be a wholly valid counter-argument
queen drift
i was saying it the other way around
them being young isnt an excuse because they've been in the scene for a long time
long belfry
Tru
gaunt acorn
huh?
sullen berry
it's on the east coast, correct?
gaunt acorn
..which?
gaunt acorn
but why are you suggesting toronto might be in the pacific division
toronto is on the east coast, yes
vancouver is literally on the pacific ocean itself
i'm sure they won't flip their divisions for fun
sullen berry
I'm only deducing it that way
gaunt acorn
sullen berry
and blizz would totally not put houston and dallas on different divisions
in the same state
gaunt acorn
but you put toronto instead of vancouver
in the pacific division
that's what i'm confused about
sullen berry
big oops
long belfry
Wut
gaunt acorn
vancouver is certainly in the pacific division lol
sullen berry
if that's the case
gaunt acorn
i can literally see the pacific ocean from my house
sullen berry
Vancouver is the pacific. not toronto
😵
Chengdu (*) Dallas Fuel Guangzhou (*) Hangzhou (*) LA Valiant LA Gladiators Shanghai Dragons SF Shock Vancouver (*)
gaunt acorn
ye
sullen berry
yeppers
gaunt acorn
wait isn't there 20 teams now
sullen berry
can't wait for canadian brethren in the pacific lineup
have we got any hints on the remaining two?
gaunt acorn
remaining two what
sullen berry
reposting the ones officially announced
https://twitter.com/JacobWolf/status/1037373722594865152
gaunt acorn
houston is being moved to pacific, in all likelihood
if that's what's puzzling you
that would make the most sense, if they're uneven atm
gaunt acorn
oh you forgot seoul
sullen berry
Chengdu ()
Dallas Fuel
Guangzhou ()
Hangzhou ()
Los Angeles Valiant
Los Angeles Gladiators
San Francisco Shock
Seoul Dynasty
Shanghai Dragons
Vancouver ()
10 teams
gaunt acorn
yup
sullen berry
I'll still be a pacific end supporter
sullen berry
dude
gaunt acorn
speaking of which
as much as i'm excited, i'm also concerned
runaway is good but not exactly owl-good right now
sullen berry
being a pacific supporter for the inaugural season was mostly sleepers with the onset of dallas and shanghai
gaunt acorn
or rather, they'd comparable to perhaps a mid-tier owl team
sullen berry
runaway can jump into things rather quickly
gaunt acorn
mid-lower-tier
sullen berry
if it's their whole roster
gaunt acorn
i don't know how they intend to "catch up"
sullen berry
but thinking florida mayhem
gaunt acorn
and they're supposedly signing the full runaway roster
so it's not like they can sign some top-tier main tank or something
sullen berry
at least contenders korea keeps them on top of what OW League player might not have caught onto
gaunt acorn
yeah but just in general
sullen berry
minor things that largely don't do much when the season rolls
long belfry
Muma and Poko were the only non-Korean in Atlantic all stars team
gaunt acorn
they're gonna need some rigorous coaching or something
long belfry
HyperLUL
gaunt acorn
to get them up to par with other owl teams
that's the downside of signing a full contenders roster
sullen berry
so Vancouver Runaway in pink would be a real team colour?
gaunt acorn
pink is almost certainly not happening
sullen berry
what kind of colours would vancouver go for?
gaunt acorn
vancouver will likely go with the green/blue/white
ala canucks
same ownership
just like what philly did
gaunt acorn
sullen berry
Blue and green
vs Blue and red
that is the most fan-hype you can get across divisions
NY vs Vancouver
gaunt acorn
what do you mean
there's not much rivalry as far as i'm aware
vancouverites hate boston though
sullen berry
LW Blue and Runaway?
gaunt acorn
in terms of the rosters, yeah
sullen berry
I'm sure a forced narrative could exist over time
depends on if that's how it works between korean fans
gaunt acorn
the general vancouver fanbase will probably hate boston uprising more
because fuck boston
gaunt acorn
i like runaway
sullen berry
does he really believe he can make them league disciplined
gaunt acorn
but i'm also a little upset we aren't signing canadian talent
like crimzo
or even xqc if he wanted to return
sullen berry
i love toronto esports as of recent
i don't know how you picked up colorhex
but that makes me more than happy there's a kiwi in line to be promoted into OW League potential
that being said
should have been an org who was committed to signing hoowoo for the memes
pearl token
Those colors are so nice
pearl stratus
@gaunt acorn They're arguable mid-high tier if they undergo NO changes.
pearl token
I always disliked the Canucks red black and yellow
pearl token
When they changed to that i was visually satisfied
pearl stratus
Which is honestly NYXL with an upgrade.
gaunt acorn
that's not what most analysts seem to think
even immediately after winning contenders
most owl staff/players thought runaway looked like a mid-tier owl team
sullen berry
and they have inaugural season to look back on for more refined historical evidence
gaunt acorn
and i agree with them
vernal galleon
Has it been confirmed that runaway is going to be team vancouver or just rumours
gaunt acorn
owl players/teams have such vastly different coaching regimens, resources, support staff
sullen berry
still rumors, no?
pearl stratus
NYXL had all of that.
sullen berry
they're not bringing it out right now
gaunt acorn
runaway joining fresh off the block puts them at an indisputable disadvantage
sullen berry
regrettably
has vancouver budget offered them a gaming house like the original runaway roster has in korea?
vernal galleon
Well hopefully vancouver can have a good team in something
pearl stratus
We'll see how time goes, but with half the orb change sI think most teams are going to be downgrading into season 2.
Not upgrading.
sullen berry
questions to remain unanswered until preseason tbh
gaunt acorn
@vernal galleon multiple leaks indicate they are in the final stage of signing them, yeah
pearl stratus
For instance Florida will obviously not be in a great spot anymore.
vernal galleon
nice
pearl token
Goal: Not destroy own city after losing
pearl stratus
Well not that they ever were.
sullen berry
@vernal galleon Pacific division in general, can't wait
pearl stratus
I'm guessing they'll have a stage or two of growing pains out of the box.
pearl stratus
I'm still waiting to see if San Fran destroys itself.
pearl token
They were really bad
pearl stratus
Because if half the Shock rumors are true that org is going through some fun times.
sullen berry
@pearl stratus I lean very slightly towards this
pearl stratus
Let alone all of them.
sullen berry
not imploding midseaon à la dallas
gaunt acorn
an all-korean roster (well, plus tviq) with growing pains is still gonna be way better than their previous roster
especially zebbosai
sullen berry
oh zebbo
pearl stratus
They didn't release their coach though.
sullen berry
we hardly knew you
pearl stratus
Which surprised the hell out of me.
vernal galleon
Well the shock lost danteh so
pearl token
Tviq is gonna need the all korean team if he keeps playing like he has
gaunt acorn
so saying they'll get worse is ???
sullen berry
mineral is the atlantic version of kyky
gaunt acorn
sort of
pearl stratus
It's not losing Danteh, @vernal galleon , its more how true the rumors of everyone being upset and pissed off.
gaunt acorn
misfits is just a pretty bad org in general, imo
vernal galleon
ah
vernal galleon
we will have to see
pearl stratus
Dallas is going to depend on what pick ups they actually make.
pearl token
It doesnt bode well in any sport when there is drama like that behind the scenes. It pretty much always effects the end product
pearl stratus
Because if they keep Mickie on D'va they'll have a mediocre season all over again.
sullen berry
margins between fuel and mayhem are different if you account their actual past successes and the overall management and vulnerability to change
pearl stratus
No, it just needs to be appropriated properly.
pearl token
But the production
sullen berry
it's an identity, unfortunately
pearl stratus
You -never- want to get rid of him.
That kind of personality on the team is necessary.
But you rotate him into a coaching/analyst role or something.
vernal galleon
Dallas hasn’t picked anyone up to replace Mickie?
pearl stratus
Not currently.
sullen berry
like grimmreality lol
hidden vault
Why trade Danteh away from shock if he was that good?
pearl stratus
Because he overlapped with Sinatraa.
pearl token
The top of the food chain is Space....he is a turd compared to Space
gaunt acorn
doubtful mickie will be a starter
sullen berry
danteh was simply underutilized with their actual roster
hidden vault
Florida shoukd purachse linkzer
pearl stratus
So he was expendable to get a better tank.
Since Super is not that great, honestly.
gaunt acorn
seems unnecessary to fear-monger over another season of mickie on dva
pearl stratus
Yeah I was just saying we need to see their pick ups.
gaunt acorn
i believe they will be signing another off-tank
vernal galleon
well they lost the bird so they need someone to fill that
pearl stratus
They also need another Support, no?
sullen berry
being a free agent tank in the OW League has been pretty good
vernal galleon
chips is gone?
gaunt acorn
mcgravy is on their academy team
pearl stratus
He's just... not the Ana we used to see.
gaunt acorn
they can bring him up
vernal galleon
unkoe is fine
gaunt acorn
to their main roster
pearl stratus
Unkoe is fine, yes.
gaunt acorn
unkoe isn't going anywhere
pearl stratus
I think personality wise Unkoe is kind of a giant dick.
But thats partly just French point-of-fact speech.
But that doesn't mean he's not talented.
pearl stratus
I don't think Unkoe enjoyed LAV, honestly.
pearl token
Obviously he improved as the season went on elsewhere
pearl stratus
The org also handled half the first season abysmmally.
pearl token
But he sucked hard at the beginning
pearl stratus
So that may have contributed.
pearl token
true
pearl stratus
Most orgs handled the first season badly, when you think about it.
sullen berry
resistance to change was justified for fuel
pearl stratus
Eh Fuel is its own thing, which no clear answers about anything.
sullen berry
it was hard to watch as xQc didn't get more of a high level chance by the to push their thinking
you can clearly see when he leads and it's good
pearl stratus
Eh they didn't put the proper resources into him, and then it was too late.
sullen berry
but seoul knew that's all they needed to squash fuel
pearl stratus
Also I personally don't think he ever would have stayed.
Because he couldn't properly balance time/personality.
gaunt acorn
seoul could be scary this season
i just hope they don't fuck it up again
but they have every opportunity to be good
sullen berry
support wasn't in tight spots, dps shuffling, effect shutdown
pearl stratus
I'm waiting for them to pick up anotehr DPS.
Because Fleta + Munchkin isn't cutting it.
sullen berry
Flunchkin
pearl stratus
Yeah, thats what I'm waiting for.
I'm 95% certain they'll be getting Ado.
Since they did the same exact set up when they signed Zunba.
pearl token
Yeah im rdy to move past the expansion signing period honestly
pearl stratus
He was just "hanging out" for like 3 weeks lol
sullen berry
Fissure's storyline is still going to be an ongoing hot mess
pearl token
Im excited for those teams but i rly just want to know where the other teams will be at
pearl stratus
I think Fissure will shut up for a while.
Since he's all Korean now.
And thats what he really wanted.
sullen berry
betrayal from spitfire, abandonment of the Gladiators, Seoul no way
it might even be at the worst possible time if he's going to carry seoul into playoffs again
because dynasty might live up to their namesake this run
pearl stratus
Eh, the problem is if he does everyone will just be back praising him again.
So it doesn't really matter.
sullen berry
if they learn to adapt anyways, it won't be completely over next season
pearl stratus
He basically just pulled a Talespin, and everyones all pissy.
"My teammates don't practice as hard as I think they should because they just goof off."
sullen berry
subconsciously stroking your own ego
pearl stratus
It's sports.
gaunt acorn
if he can shut up and play well for seoul
now that he's in an environment he got to choose
and is essentially on his dream team
i'll give him the benefit of the doubt
sullen berry
yeah, how would that look in canucks mockup?
pearl stratus
Yeah, pretty sure Blizzard confirmed there's no changes for that stuff this season.
gaunt acorn
no clue
sullen berry
I wish it was a thing
gaunt acorn
i believe the teams are being granted further autonomy when it comes to jerseys this season, however
so they won't all look the same
unless blizzard changed their minds
vernal galleon
Would they get to name the vancouver team the canucks?
pearl token
thatll be nice
sullen berry
think about how many of those printed player jerseys they would be selling
vernal galleon
Oof
gaunt acorn
all owl franchises must have original branding
vernal galleon
has to be something new
gaunt acorn
they can, however, share colours
philly fusion is a perfect example of this
they are owned by the same company that owns the philly flyers (hockey team)
vernal galleon
ah
gaunt acorn
just as the vancouver team is owned by the same group that owns the vancouver canucks (hockey team)
vernal galleon
it all makes sense
gaunt acorn
well, i'm sure i don't need to explain the canucks to you
but yeah
vancouver will likely use the blue/green/white
sullen berry
that's about 320+ skus online of the home/away sets for every player
gaunt acorn
just as the canucks do
pearl token
Flyers suck. -Sincerely Islanders fan.
vernal galleon
I live in the vancouverish
pearl token
Jk my team sucks worse
sullen berry
20 teams with 8 players
vernal galleon
burnaby
vernal galleon
close enough
sullen berry
esports has shown me there are a LOT of hues of blue they need to get right
gaunt acorn
i think the canucks colours are nice as-is
sullen berry
gaunt acorn
probably not
pearl token
I kind of wish a bunch of the logos would add more detail. But simple detail like outlines
vernal galleon
I mean hopefully
gaunt acorn
the aquilinis never owned the millionaires
pearl token
The canucks colors are awesome. Should just go with that
sullen berry
somewhere between and dark blues
sullen berry
pretty sure their dark green hue would be preferable when they light up the stage ring in blizz arena in a vancouver matchup would be better
vernal galleon
I mean if they copy the jerseys I wouldn't have any complaints
pearl token
Sedin twins: Starting DPS
sullen berry
the big think
gaunt acorn
for comparison purposes
sullen berry
sometimes their production just gives them a slight discoloration during the announcements
and I think the purpose of convenience
they use the same dark bluewhere color resolution doesn't give them that freedom to tell the two apart
gaunt acorn
vancouver blue would be most similar to boston
gaunt acorn
huh
long belfry
is love is life
pearl token
I didnt realize until today when i was rewatching a nyxl match...the red on blue xD
Which has always been one of my least favorite things with colors
Red text on blue
GAH
outlines
gaunt acorn
the blue is dark enough that it works fine
if it were a lighter blue, it wouldn't scan well
but considering the amount of money they paid a prestigious design firm to make their logo & branding..
they seem to know what they're doing
vernal galleon
vancouver might go with white writing
pearl token
I rly like the logo
vernal galleon
and do green accents
pearl token
I think its one of the best ones
sullen berry
monochrome text colours are ideal in any team design
so i don't know cooked up mayhem's
because I'm pretty sure red text on yellow didn't end up working well
pearl token
Its representative of the panic orange and red causes. The panic they felt when dropping all those games
pearl token
If they were gonna go red and orange/gold they shouldve added blue like the Panthers
gaunt acorn
vernal galleon
pharah
gaunt acorn
maybe pharah yeah
sullen berry
Paris is a no brainer
vernal galleon
kind of
gaunt acorn
fuel already use(d) genji
vernal galleon
that could work
gaunt acorn
probably
vernal galleon
paris will go for the wreaking ball
sullen berry
unless cyclops athlete gaming picks up all the sponsors to hold a spot to represent tokyo or something
@vernal galleon no widow okay
gaunt acorn
paris will certainly be widow, yup
sullen berry
tricolore doesn't have the same lustre they put into the OW League skin detail
just for the sake of argument, that would be like shanghai dragons represented by torbjorn
pearl token
Itd make sense. If Houston went McCree for the american cowboy theme
Surely Paris will do the same with Widow
sullen berry
oh god canada for torb
vernal galleon
give it to toronto
pearl token
Too bad Lucio is taken cuz then you couldve had him in his hockey skins xD
sullen berry
wrecking ball or brig for team mascots
vernal galleon
then playing rein will make me hate my life
torpid charm
Winston best mascot for best team
sullen berry
Dc
vernal galleon
shadowburn?
pearl token
Does France have a shot overall? I mean Soon is nasty but he was basically bullying bronze looking teams yesterday lol
and i loved it
It definitely seems like GB and FR come out of this group but I have zero confidence in the UK doing anything after this stage
queen drift
france is one of the top teams lol
pearl token
Alright cool. I rly didnt know anything about them going into this besides being familiar with Soon and Unthrow
Just wanna start the next stage already
queen drift
SoOn, aKm, NiCO, uNKOE, winz all played on a team called Rogue
best western team before OWL
pearl token
Oh, well damn
queen drift
yeah lots of people hoped the team itself would play in OWL
but they got split off, unkoe & soon to valiant and the rest dropped
akm signed for fuel
unkoe to fuel
soon still on valiant
pearl token
Well now their stunning steamrolling and teamwork makes sense lol
hidden vault
Too bad knoXX wasn't selected
cold plover
