On the first match day, OGE got in touch with me and said he’s been following Lateyoung’s matches and really wanted to meet Lateyoung. When I told Lateyoung about it, he felt very nervous about their first meet-up: "OGE was my first friend on the NA server but we never met each other IRL. What should I say when I see him?"
XiaoTuTu: "Hey, it's not a date."
#esports-discussion
sullen berry
XTT Please be GM at World Cup 2019
gaunt acorn
really good write-up
@sullen berry where is the original tweet
or was there not one
i know it's translated from weibo
@tawdry palm serious discussion only please
sullen berry
Translation only if I recall
green stump
@gaunt acorn this really just says a lot of the differences of players from each region
karmic grotto
Was watching a part of space's stream, and most of the friends he had were scrimming?
Do OWL/Contenders scrim everyday?
queen drift
jyes
sometimes they have days off, like some teams get weekends off I think
my team scrims about 2-3 hours every day
ive heard OWL is like 8h scrims a day, but that was an offhand comment from a couple different streamers
so it could be wrong
upper niche
Yeah... 8h seems like under-stating it. Or you weren't talking to someone from Seoul or Shanghai obviously :)
magic zinc
Is this bait ol
warped axle
Dafran repping his country's colors
gaunt acorn
show reign torb
sullen berry
reign bob
sullen berry
@gaunt acorn
UK Royal Academy of Whoopass KYB
now I can confirm I followed the right weibo account
torpid charm
I’m about to be on my 
shit
tough sleet
better than poko u
torpid charm
gaunt acorn
not sure about that one chief
sullen berry
KYB \o/
sullen berry
I mean
we have had one team do fine with mixed korean-western roster
I will see that this would end up like shanghai at their worst
at their best, and if the infrastructure allows, they can make into playoffs without a doubt
warped axle
I think NYXL, Fusion, Valiant, Glads, Hz, and Vancouver will be good playoff candidates
I think SHD, Seoul, and most other expansion teams are big question marks
queen drift
Don’t think Vancouver or HZ will be playoffs
warped axle
These new teams can't be overestimated though
queen drift
I doubt any expansion team will hit playoffs
warped axle
They might take a stage to start working out
Except maybe Vancouver
Since it's just Runaway
queen drift
Doesn’t mean anything
hidden vault
Vancouver would probably be a mid team
rare sonnet
Why are teams scrimming?
I know one pro said their team isn’t really scrimming during autumn because the meta could change massively before S2
sullen berry
it's more efficient use of play time
karmic grotto
I wanna see a trail match of Atlanta versus a another new formed team
sullen berry
washington, if you want one close to home
i would like to believe the 4 Chinese rosters would be interested in doing something similar
but are likely to be playing more closed scrims , at best
hidden vault
Would still prefer that there's one full chinese team
fast basin
lusty condor
oh god,why are Koreans always GM
there's not a single bronze-plat Korean I have seen
queen drift
Koreans in general aren’t great, just the ones that take it seriously as a profession because that’s what it is
They’re not born better or something they just work harder
gaunt acorn
it's a cultural thing, not a genetics thing
queen drift
Ye
nova pond
Koreans vs Koreans makes a difference though. Competition is stiffer. That’s why completely average players over there make GMs in NA
It’s like taking the worst NHL player in the league stats wise and putting him against some Japanese teams in hockey. The NHL guy is gonna look like Gretzky
rustic plaza
there isnt really a difference between kr and na soloq esp if ur talking bout na west
id rather play on na west than kr
queen drift
No
Completely average players over there
Are completely average players in NA
the general population isnt exceptional
they're just people
nova pond
They’re just people who play in a different culture where it’s taken more seriously at different levels. Tougher top competition makes the lower competition tougher as well since you’ll never completely avoid higher competition to play against. Making the average players better than those that don’t have that competition
karmic grotto
Gator not being main tank for ATL?
This is a bit odd since they announced him as the main tank
As far as I know, Contenders season 3 hasn't started for US yet?
balmy wolf
just wondering, how many of the top 500 spots are actually individual players and how many of the top 500 spots would you say are just the same top 500 players but on alt accounts?
mint turtle
I'd imagine no more than 10% are smurfs
What pro has time to scrim, be t500, and be t500 again on another account
paper crag
So if you think about it, would NA west be the highest skill when it comes to the top of the top in comps while owl is in season?
Since that’s where the top pros are during season
Strictly talking about high gm-top500 games
queen drift
A lot more than 10% imo, realistically I think it’s like 30 but a lot of people think it’s half Alts
Considering not only pros are top500, some are just players who play a lot
rustic plaza
yes its been known for a while that west is the best
if u play during scrim times its still dogshit tho
ruby pendant
k!
sullen berry
come on, google
when you ask google assistant how many teams there are it's up to date
but their news timestamps are a hot mess to get me to click on their links
gaunt acorn
@subtle flax use #lf-scrim-na
royal wyvern
what skill rating would you need to enter the open division?
gaunt acorn
@royal wyvern there is no skill rating requirement
royal wyvern
but i mean u would have to be good though
can't have no bronze people goin, prob get rekt
gaunt acorn
@royal wyvern as i said -- no skill rating requirement
it's not like you're going to win with a team of bronzes
but you can still compete
and in the best scenarios you get matched with equally-skilled teams
queen drift
OD isnt based on sr for what teams play what tho
you're more likely to get fucked first game
river ember
Does OD just match u up with random teams and then just play from there? will there be things like moderators who watch the announcers? I just registered my team for it and was just wondering how these things work.
gaunt acorn
the announcers?
you get matched with random teams at first
then it matches you with teams with the same win/loss i believe
upper niche
OD has a lot of gold teams who just want to play to take the piss and have fun. Then there's a heap of diamond teams who think they're top shit cos they're winning matches against those gold teams in OD.
mossy bone
Nyxl is gonna roll everybody 😤
They picked up flower and now they have like 3 insane widow players
gaunt acorn
imagine overhyping fl0w3r in 2018
there's never going to be a 3 widow meta
doesn't seem all that useful
even willing to bet pine will be released/traded after stage 1
sullen berry
In a game where good aim matters, taimou would probably trade himself to another team if his performance is worse than inaugural season stats
balmy wolf
tf is this
Some of these new mascots are... not so great.
At least Chengdu is good
upper niche
I wore a Philly Fusion tee to Disneyland (DCA) and was constnatly stopped by members of the public and cast members... including a few who asked if it was a Soccer jersey ;p
sullen berry
I'm bothered by a need to see someone wear overwatch gear to recognize someone plays the game
I'm probably going to be that person when the season 2 jerseys are released
balmy wolf
I'll probably get a dynasty jersey eventually
gaunt acorn
imagine not knowing what le coq sportif is
balmy wolf
balmy wolf
How do the Houston outlaws look for season 2?
sullen berry
The only glimpse we have was back during the Gilded Gala with London Spitfire, but that's not telling us how much they have improved
balmy wolf
What happened to Danteh
New to ESports here^
Idk? I’m in Houston and I wanna get a jersey they’re on sale for $15
gaunt acorn
@balmy wolf he was traded from san francisco shock to houston outlaws
the team grog is inquiring about
i'm saying i feel bad for him
outlaws aren't held in.. particularly high regard outside their fanbase of teenaged girls
balmy wolf
Rip man , But if he carries them maybe he will be the reason they perform well.
Ping me for the outlaws x shock match up
Doom/Zayra/Tracer / Brigg
pearl stratus
For Houston he'll probably play:
Sombra, Zarya, Junkrat, Genji.
I was going to say Doomfist.
But Doomfist was removed from the pro meta because of some whiny ladder tards.
warped axle
If anything nanohana is going to be underhyped going into season 2
Because nobody expects anything amazing from him
balmy wolf
Outlaws aren’t necessarily good but I live there so I kinda have to support them
warped axle
I'm more excited for Nenne tbh
sullen berry
@pearl stratus I need an idea of when this became a thing, doomfist has been played less but is it really ladder influencing the pro meta?
@warped axle nanohana is going to be playing under the name flow3r
Charge is my pick up for season 2, as underwhelming as they may seem: neither 2nd or 3rd best in Korean Contenders..
All I want to see is the adaptation game rather than being prior experience
pearl stratus
@sullen berry check the last two ptrs. It hits a lot of nasty doom nerfs, makes goats still strong etc.
The problem is doom wasn't op for pro play, just ladder.
And he was one of goats stronger counters. So goats now has one less overall counter unless people adapt to him very quickly.
vagrant niche
Pharah counter buff please
sullen berry
Making torb a viable meta pick in season 2, cant wait
vagrant niche
Why is pharah always played with Mercy on pro play?
jesus christ, please make her independent
sullen berry
They're co-dependent
Like any business model when two people are in a partnership
Pharah gets more out of mercy than the other way round
Imagine nerfing mercy
vagrant niche
that's not what r/cow thinks
I say on reddit, that i'm sad that 99% of good plays from pharah is dependent on mercy
i get downvoted
pearl stratus
You can manage without Mercy, but you need a really attentive Ana.
Nano Pharah is actually a little scarier than most people think.
vagrant niche
Ha, good luck finding those in Plat
pearl stratus
I mean ladder is for shitters at any sr, I'm more worried about upcoming into Season 2.
vagrant niche
i'm just trying hard to train to get myself out of plat
people on reddit says it's the hardest to get out of
you basically have to be like grand master level to get yourself out
because too much tilt and soft throw, poor teamwork and they punish you if you try to go for risky stuff like flanking positions
queen drift
queen drift
🤷 was in plat, then i was in diamond
never felt a particular struggle in plat other than my own personal issues in the game
fleet walrus
warped axle
Dallas Fuel
balmy wolf
I hope Crimso gets signed .
copper solstice
ive heard there might be an dallas fuel vs envy paladins soon? 
(I think that is considered esports since envy/dallas fuel is a overwatch league)
pure matrix
Hello there are french people?
hollow root
yes
upper niche
lol, "FLOATS" - Rein subbed for Winston. Or "Mountain GOATS".
hidden vault
Why is it called "Floats" or "Mountain Goats"
gaunt acorn
i don't think crimzo will be signed for season 2 until at least mid-season, assuming at all
he'll continue playing on envy (contenders) for now
upper niche
Mindfreak WTF?!!
analog lark
So I'm looking at the Paris Eternal roster
analog lark
It's more like i love the players
analog lark
Soon and ShadowBurn, Kruise
Nico
Also
I just saw the Starfoxes roster
For contenders America
Skyfoxes*
Mai boy Verbo is on there
gloomy tapir
Pog
upper niche
https://clips.twitch.tv/AmericanRespectfulOrcaMikeHogu
From the Aus Contenders match that just finished.
gloomy tapir
I never got into contenders
analog lark
He was the only reason i rooted for the LA Valiant
analog lark
I don't watch contenders
But i will watch Skyfoxes matches
As my boi Verbo
I've loved him since immortals
I also loved Rogue
I want Winz to be signed
I just love lucio players
gloomy tapir
No
gaunt acorn
as a lucio player, no less?
gloomy tapir
He played like a bot burger
gaunt acorn
analog lark
Verbo, Kruise, Tobi, Anamo, Ark,
gaunt acorn
winz is the least deserving person to be in owl
less so than kephrii
winz isn't even a good lucio, doesn't like the hero
is an entitled manchild
upper niche
has Kephrii played a match in Korean Contenders yet?
analog lark
What about all of shanghai dragons
gaunt acorn
what about them
analog lark
In season one
gaunt acorn
i believe winz is quitting overwatch altogether and i can only say thank god
paris dodged a bullet not signing him
i hope better french support talent gets to shine
gloomy tapir
Yed
gaunt acorn
hopefully dafran doesn't quit a month in
upper niche
@gaunt acorn Who?
gaunt acorn
@upper niche who who?
upper niche
WhoTF is Winz?
gaunt acorn
akm's brother
former rogue player
washed up for like 2 years
only gets into world cup each year because he's akm's brother
sucks at lucio, constantly whines about how he was forced to play lucio
and that the hero takes no skill
despite him sucking at it
cries on twitter about how he deserves owl
upper niche
I mean to be fair, he's playing Lucio so he's already at a handicap 😉
gaunt acorn
and everything is unfair
blames his teammates
blames fans
there are plenty of good lucio players
winz is certainly not among them
upper niche
I get blaming your teammates. That I can get behind at times. But blaming fans is fucking awesome. I'm gonna use that next time I drop 200SR 😛
gaunt acorn
his teammates are literally carrying him, in this case
he's by far the weakest link on team france each year
upper niche
"This is all the bloody fans fault. And the spectators. My 12 viewers on Twitch, you did this"
queen drift
Don’t most teams think their brandings ‘not bad’
queen drift
Ahh
upper niche
Look, if Hello Kitty are still running with their OWL teams branding, anything goes.
balmy wolf
gloomy drift
so was the "Vancouver Titans" leak fake?
gaunt acorn
@gloomy drift yes
that was clear from the day it was posted
however the concept behind it is real
the leaker just used up-to-date info to make it seem legit
the name is indeed titans, colours are green/blue/white, logo is still a yeti/sasquatch-looking thing
just the image you saw was a fake leak
gloomy drift
bigyikes
keen basin
Can I go as a Health Pack and dispense beverages
gaunt acorn
i'd like to see that
gaunt acorn
zunba is a great zarya but his d.va is not as good as fury's
considering the current meta, it makes more sense to field the better d.va player
sullen berry
@gloomy tapir just watch it for the replay effect, because I want THAT in OW League
https://clips.twitch.tv/AmericanRespectfulOrcaMikeHogu
From the Aus Contenders match that just finished.
gaunt acorn
kaiser 
gaunt acorn
greyy
green stump
.... Everytime i see things thing, i keep hearing jojo music
gaunt acorn
cool
looks like he'll be one of their supports
i guess ggea imploding was a good thing for him
pearl stratus
The only downside I think to the GGEA thing is Blizzard precedence to no extensions despite org issues.
Which I think is 50/50.
limber pine
eh
i'd like to think OpTiC had plenty of fair warning but idk
maybe it was optic's decision
pearl stratus
Well they asked for an extension, and got denied.
So it was probably trying to balance budget and roster since it was right around the time Hammer Brother bashed his wife and they had a funding crisis.
tacit swallow
toxic yacht
rose mural
stop
magic zinc
Damn even has a wink in there 
slow walrus
I would say it's more of a PR problem
pearl stratus
I'm not going to watch it if they have Dabmancer there. I'd rather everyone in contenders fails than support that. 😛
slow walrus
wtf is wrong with that
we have fucks on the owl desk that fuck around all the time
sideshow and bren I'm looking at you
I think it's funny honestly, he's trying his best
vagrant niche
EU contenders is pretty lame tho
NA is where is at
the korean english speakers are nice as well
pearl stratus
Btw - mine was all tongue in cheek hyperbole.
Though I do think that guy looks like the bastard child of Surefour + Ninja.
balmy wolf
o
sullen berry
@pearl stratus that was the equivalent of this year's owwc desk antics, it's shameless but when done right just them doing satire without thinking too hard about it
contenders has so much video content but I'm seeing EU being quieter than Pacific
I mean pacific has patiphan and kephrii
but that doesn't bump up numbers on average by much without him
pearl stratus
The problem that EU and NA have is that...
Well to be really blunt.
They're shit at being innovative.
So I don't want to watch them, at all.
Here's just about every contenders NA/EU game:
Step 1. Goats.
Step 2. ???
Step 3. 3k viewers.
Where as China/Korean Contenders they'll do some legit weird stuff.
China Contenders has been playing a TON of Hammond for instance, which I think is fun to watch.
sullen berry
AU contendies doesn't do a lot of goats
pearl stratus
I watched the T1W game over the weekend and they were running a weird Pharmercy Soldier Hammond comp.
And it was fun.
sullen berry
sure they will resort to it
but not mirror afaiw
biggest game was no surprise a steamroll by sydney drop bears
pearl stratus
Yeah - Widow, Pharah, Mercy, Hammond, Hanzo, Soldier.
sullen berry
so that means there's bigger matchups to come before playoffs
pearl stratus
I looked at the comp and was like "... the fuck is this shit?"
And then they just kinda destroyed with it for a bit on Route.
1:4:1 comp. Straight out NA GM ladder.
sullen berry
that's what I like to see in contenders
no nonsense experimentation
the only risk is being watched by actual team scouts if they fail 🤣
sullen berry
wrecking ball is such a good disruptor
I get a kick out of watching how people play him into a team fight over winston
pearl stratus
Monte may still be in, but I think the Jake success really proved having player casters is huge.
vagrant niche
who is Avast?
karmic grotto
That's a cyber security software
pearl stratus
This was also an interesting read about professional perspective on OWL.
It's worth noting this does not mean sustainable or profitable.
Just that right now its a high ranking commodity in the eyes of professionals.
That's from Sports Business Journal, iirc.
sullen berry
Avast will do well
if he keeps to the same ethos that Jakerat did for casting
@pearl stratus that's pretty pog
pearl stratus
It's mostly good to see more successful players getting smarter at diversifying their portfolio.
Jake for instance now has casting and analyst experience, he's one of the more recognized big brain players by Korean players etc.
He's solidified a future pretty readily.
Watching Avast and others catch on to some forward thinking is pog.
sullen berry
200IQ retuning to world cup roster after having it pretty good as the most experienced analyst/past top 500 player
he's better established now than he was 12 months ago
green stump
@pearl stratus that's actually pretty interesting
vagrant niche
Bliz didn't asked Jamerson back
honestly, whats with these shit decisions of bliz
just you wait, they going to keep Mica or even worse, promote her to OWL
they are getting rid of the good people and not getting rid of the bad ones
pearl stratus
ioStux is very... uhm.
I don't want to say he's stupid, he's very much not stupid
But I don't think he understands local nuance.
Especially when it comes to housing cost vs. livable wage etc.
This comment in particular got me: 50K is livable? 20K is more than enough, especially if you provide the team with a team house so they don't have to pay rent. Paying rent for a team house and giving each of the players 15-20k a year is enough to keep them alive and in decent shape to practice. I don't think any of the contenders players expect $4000 a month, $1500 is more than enough to live off of with a team house.
1500 a month + rent scaled around the US is actually pretty expensive depending on where you're from.
Especially when we have areas like the Bay Area in California that now consider anyone making less than $117,000/yr as "low income"
One of those areas being San Francisco.
I'm even trying to find a house big enough to rent near Boston that would work for this - I'm assuming you'd want a minimum of 5-6 bedrooms just for the players. So thats ~7k/mo not counting utilities. Lets assume something along the lines of 1000 for utilities per month (internet/tv/water/heating/etc). So 8k a month, give or take. If you have 6 players thats $1333 each. So suddenly $1500 is magically $2833/mo when you look at total investment - not counting if you feed them etc.
So ~34k a year. Personally if I was going to go that route I'd put them in the middle of Buttfuck, Nowhere.
Where rent is cheap.
upper niche
@pearl stratus Players are in a position to say "no" if they didn't want to play for a particular team on the salary they demand. The current arrangement of players living in LA requires a LAFH allowance.
upper niche
T2/T3?
pearl stratus
Contenders players.
blazing vault
London spitfire is pog and Dentay just wanted to fuck egorls
forest raven
warped axle
Ham_Tornado 
sullen berry
here's some wild speculation: adopting fusion apparel helps to get your foot in the door
sullen berry
Theres an interview posted today on Weibo with Hangzhou about their team roster that was done during their press release with their roster in attendance. Either wait for fan translations or let me know if that's of interest to anyone here
gaunt acorn
sullen berry
what was up with hangzhouspark's logo being different from the leak?
could justice do something as radical and have another logo they release at the last minute?
gaunt acorn
@sullen berry you mean the colour difference?
they were debating between blue/white or pink/blue
they ended up choosing pink/blue
pearl stratus
@gaunt acorn Flowervin and Runaway landed in Vancouver today, according to a really creepy douche who stalked them around the airport taking pictures.
gaunt acorn
runaway landed a few days prior i believe
but yes i saw flowervin arrived
i hope there's a meetup besides the canucks game
pearl stratus
I dunno. First time in Vancouver and they get stalked by a person in the airport.
I might not go out after that.
gaunt acorn
they're literally here to attend a big announcement party/fan meetup
i'm just hoping they do another one that doesn't require attending the canucks game ($$$)
and preferably on a different date
since i'm busy on the 1st
torpid charm
gaunt acorn
royal wyvern
Could you argue that e-sports is just competitive videogames that can be played by anyone who takes a game seriously and is not just limited to the professionals, i believe this to be an accurate statement as "sports" is not just limited to professionals - anyone can go and play some basketball or golf and don't need to be a professional at it. I believe this same logic extends to e-sports as all the name means is electronic sports, please give me your thoughts on this topic.
queen drift
Partaking in the top levels takes about the same amount of time and dedication
Maybe not physical effort
So it depends how you class a sport
Physical or opening it up to non psychical or traditional things
Personally idk if I’d consider it a sport. I think it deserves the same respect, professionalism and attention, but it doesn’t have to be a sport to get that. Think of top scientists or doctors, it takes a significant amount of time to learn and practice science but it’s not a sport
Maybe there being competition is what defines it, but I don’t know because running, cycling, rollerblading, ice skating are all considered sports without necessarily needing to compete
Maybe recreational in nature, but then you have art and music that isn’t a sport
balmy wolf
Esports itself as a term is used to refer to organized competitive play between professionals
It all kinda comes down to how you want to use the word sports because it refers to both casual and competitive play in daily usage but the same doesn't apply to esports
Besides being a professional in normal sports vs esports are completely different experiences so I don't think they're even comparable
sullen berry
chess is a primary example of this
it has been qulified as a game
not so much a sport, but many have made exceptions to this because it does indeed follow a similar trajectory to how esports is being discussed as a sport
qualifying chess as competitive sport just as much as book reading, or even ironing is valid in the right conversations
I mention ironing becayse there was a moment in the last couple decades where literally anything was made a competition in the US right down to Extreme Ironing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Extreme_Ironing_World_Championships
ruby pendant
Depends on how you want to define a sport. Popular opinion will decide what is a "sport" in the end! Whether Overwatch is defined as a sport or not doesn't matter to me. I only view Overwatch League and other similar acts as a competitive event.
warped axle
limber pine
I hope Paris does well to help other EU cities buy in
I don’t want them doing poorly to scare investors away
cursive zealot
neat vortex
won't stop investors the countries have nothing to do with the countries for example london spitfires
twin cobalt
Dallas Fuel (@DallasFuel) Tweeted:
@OverwatchDC https://t.co/WWWs9NjVWs https://twitter.com/DallasFuel/status/1067466239612764161?s=17
green stump
@twin cobalt .... Whoever is in charge of that twitter, take a bow
twin cobalt
It's funny af tho. Friends and I are waiting patiently cause we in the DC area
I still say they going to copy capitals color scheme
torpid charm
green stump
I want more of this banter between the teams though
pearl stratus
I liked Torontos banter.
Crazy batshit doctor fuckwit: "CHALLENGE CHALLENGE CHALLENGE."
Toronto Reign - "Hey Blizzard."
Copyright, change your name.
Won the game without playing a single map.
mint turtle
green stump
There was a really good video laying it out, but holy crap that was a wild ride
sour marlin
Watched the dividing by 0 one. Really big messup from toronto esports
hard zephyr
When do the Away skins come out for Live?
pearl stratus
I'm watching xQc play Chess on his stream since I can just listen to it at work.
And its kind of like you'd imagine a monkey playing with tools for the first time.
vagrant niche
i was hoping the patch would hit today with doomfist and brigitte changes
as well with the away skins
i really want to use them
green stump
@pearl stratus how many viewers does he have atm
pearl stratus
A good chunk, but I think some of them are just laughing about how he has about negative .2 foresight with Chess.
Like I'm only watching because its watching evolution for a monkey to learn chess.
Like right now Forseen can put him in checkmate.
But Forsen doesn't know shit either.
He did it in a roundabout way that took four extra moves.
mint turtle
Tbf majority of people do t know how to play,let alone play well
I get called a god when I solve a Rubik's cube Infront of others, when it's literally just algorithms
green stump
@pearl stratus yeah but he's been losing steady viewers for a while since this started, he got a big jump at the start and then losing people day after day
pearl stratus
Nah he'll be fine, he'll slide into a Tyler1-esque scene of people enjoying watching him tweak at whatever game he's doing.
I just enjoy this because its like teaching a three year old how to play chess, and hoping he doesn't choke on the pieces.
green stump
@pearl stratus but what about his active community who enjoy the rage and etc
pearl stratus
Eh he's averaging 15-20k viewers most days, he'll be fine.
green stump
@pearl stratus xD i wouldn't mind if that nasty part of his community got bored and left and stopped trying to brigade other streamers that xqc fights though
analog lark
So i just found out that Whoru and I are only 2 days apart
In age
That's interesting
Also, there are currently over 90 or so Korean players in the league lol.
rare sonnet
Loool
Tbh I think Season 3 we might actually see less Koreans
Because some are overhyped imo
If Paris dominates it’ll be a whole different story when signings open mid-season
ruby pendant
Fusion gonna be bottom tier team in season 2, so sad!'
queen drift
@hidden vault why on earth would they sign winz instead of asher
wrong
greyy not asher
reading wrong
hold on let me try again
Why would they sign Winz instead of Greyy?
And yes, Asher is from LAG
forest raven
bomb 
karmic grotto
Hawk good dva, amazing bombs
You throw random dva bomb and suddenly hit Ajax
Overextending
Bad bad
forest raven
karmic grotto
Those are NA walls
hidden vault
@queen drift obviously I don't know that's why I am asking
But there were people previously suggesting they should sign winz as flex support
karmic grotto
@forest raven someone on sub made a great comment: half of ALT Academy exist of animal names
Hawk, Gator, Dogman
queen drift
@hidden vault Winz is very overrated, and only really gets into things because of aKm. I think any team serious about winning any actual.. anything.. should get as far away from Winz as possible. Ideally on the other team.
daily reminder
gaunt acorn
no winz = wins
hidden vault
Lmao why still fill winz as support for France
warped axle
Ok so Uprising Academy is playing in a few hours
gaunt acorn
@hidden vault nepotism
warped axle
And as far as I know they haven't announced their roster
Maybe they just aren't going to bother
gaunt acorn
@warped axle huk is playing all 6 roles
warped axle
That's OP. Huk hard counters Koreans and FU has 3 of them.
gaunt acorn
huk on roadhog
he's a dps, tank, and support all at once
fusion university doesn't stand a chance
sullen berry
WhenRU
gaunt acorn
HowRU
sullen berry
FeelsLateHBU
ruby pendant
torpid charm
sullen berry
torpid charm
I miss Snillo being on the main roster but I’m happy to see him play again
gaunt acorn
torpid charm
Ironic because I’m wearing my It’s Always Map 5 in Philadelphia shirt while watching this match
sullen berry
It's always map 5 in Philadelphia
torpid charm
Chef Heidi during Dorado: they need to hurry up & win so they can eat dinner 
sullen berry
Is that chef Heidi as Moira?
sullen berry
@gaunt acorn this weekend
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/488221501762437140/517109297566580736/ldiU1YI.png
hidden vault
@gaunt acorn whut France too?
hot nacelle
out of all the dps mains, who is best widowmaker I'm at a crossroads rn
gaunt acorn
sayaplayer or carpe
torpid charm
balmy wolf
Carpe is sniper consistently tho at OWL Level the skill level difference between the widow mains isn't that too far. Like SBB, Pine, Carpe, Soon, are all notorious snipers
gaunt acorn
sayaplayer is also very consistent
wispy nimbus
Anyone got any deets on team vancouver?
gaunt acorn
@wispy nimbus what do you want to know?
wispy nimbus
Name, brand, and roster. Though mostly the colours hehe
gaunt acorn
name is vancouver titans
colours are green/blue/white
sort of like this
roster is primarily runaway
wispy nimbus
Ooh so it is confirmed runaways are team vancity
gaunt acorn
Tanks
Sang-beom "Bumper" Park
Hyeon-Woo "JJANU" Choi
DPS
Hyo-jong "Haksal" Kim
Chung-hee "Stitch" Lee
Dong-eun "Hooreg" Lee
Min-soo "SeoMinSoo" Seo
Supports
Sung-jun "SLIME" Kim
Joo-seok "Twilight" Lee
Jun-seo "Lucid" Yoo
wispy nimbus
Where'd you get the source?
gaunt acorn
@wispy nimbus yes, without a doubt
i mean it's been known for awhile
vancouver was the only team they could've signed to
and we know they did sign
plus they're in vancouver now
they arrived a few days ago
flowervin arrived yesterday
the team will be revealed on december 1st
at a canucks hockey game
2nd intermission
wispy nimbus
Neato. They got the canucks colourway and in the same company as well so that makes sense
wispy nimbus
Well, I'm not up to date with ow esports as well as I'd like and this is some very cool info. Thanks @gaunt acorn !
gaunt acorn
potent pewter
🎮
pearl stratus
All the UA kids played yesterday, proving that Toronto E-sports is a joke like always.
Also in Boston style they picked up Klaus and plan to develop him, so we're getting more SA players in NA contenders.
sullen berry
a joke in what way
the transition players are indeed missing and made this team worse off
that's all i know, anyways
warped axle
UA was so shaky yesterday
They just didn't have the synergy to finish FU off
Their ult economy proves that
limber pine
dude
First Gen's ult economy yesterday was terrible
I'm shocked they won
Nomy throwing slams, Nagga wasting gravs, and tespa often overlapped barriers with Trans
forest raven
Kungarna is bad smile
pearl stratus
Eh I'm pretty sure Klause was still playing from Brazil, so that can explain a lot for a good chunk of shakiness (It's around 170ms) - beyond that it could have gone better.
Fusion looks pretty mediocre without WhoRu and Zach though.
And its more that I think TESports had an inflated sense of importance. They're a relatively shit org that, lately, relied only on their OW team and I think they were expecting more failure.
I expected them to be more shaky though, to be honest. They had four players with an October pick up, two with a november pick up, and had their first game with less than a month of practice.
gaunt acorn
the best teams get poached the hardest
limber pine
aye
pearl stratus
I mean it was partially self poaching, so they knew what they were doing to their academy.
gaunt acorn
reminder that aero used to be their head coach
pearl stratus
But it's nice to see how the system is "designed" to work, imo.
If most of the Academy teams get to the poach rate of Boston/Philly/London Academy teams it's a hugely profitable environment.
For players, not just contenders.
warped axle
I'm still trying to figure out why ATL was so much better looking than MA yesterday
Might just be because of Gator
pearl stratus
Hangzhou with the 900IQ play of being weebs.
From the Guxue interview:
Q1: why do you join Hangzhou A: its own by bilibili. i like anime so a fan of them
Step 1. Be weebs, go full anime on your OWL branding.
Step 2. ???
Step 3. Get Guxue.
green stump
Priorities
pearl stratus
They'll get Surefour by anime trade in the mid-season window
green stump
Yo..... Surefour, join our team, i can promise you no money, but top quality memes and wifeus
sullen berry
Surefour's Rider: A Cosplay Harem
green stump
I imagine this is how it went for Guxue and soon to be surefour
https://youtu.be/B5-c9kfbRis
limber pine
if DC doesn't announce anything this week, i'm going to assume they are ashamed of either their brand, team, or both.
jagged crater
why didnt OWL hire zedd instead of dj khaled anyway
did they actually think dj khaled would resonate with an audience full of teenagers
limber pine
because more people know who dj kaheld is
jagged crater
going purely by popularity is often awkward when it comes to esports tournaments
jagged crater
i can see them going for the more "mainstream" look. Look our tournament's got dj khaled, we maintstream like the big boi sports like the NBA
but it's just so unfitting
limber pine
upper niche
Grizzlies?
jagged crater
s00n\
twin cobalt
DJ Khalid is better when he does remixes
Also I agree sprite, DC better produce soon, or I'll just buy more Boston gear
sullen berry
Imagine Contenders Australia losing their major sponsor
green stump
@limber pinei love that the Dallas fuel guy for their Twitter is so fast to retort to other teams
limber pine
their twitter game is on point
but I wonder if it's likely that they knew in advance that something would be posted
green stump
Maybe but i wish all the teams were like that, it makes the upcoming season more exciting when you see them banter
green stump
The new runaways isn't bad either though
green stump
Welp
nova wadi
Interesting
torpid charm
nova wadi
i like how so many pros are just reacting lie "WTF???"
jagged crater
nobody knew not even the leak bois
limber pine
Da fak
jagged crater
omg somebody actually predicted it
jagged crater
dude was right
https://www.reddit.com/r/Competitiveoverwatch/comments/a1ac6c/gladiators_have_released_big_goose_and_shaz/eao3bd7/?context=3
sullen berry
30 minutes between those two posts was unaccaptable
any longer and we would of had a dramatic tweet/video storm
heh
green stump
@limber pine lol okay.. that got me too .... I tip my hat to you glads
upper niche
@sullen berry I don't think Maccas are going anywhere.
Wait, what the hell is going on with those LAG tweets?
Oh, okay, I see. You have to make sure you look at them with a good context of time.
vagrant niche
hehe nice Jebait
hey, who is the Second wind team on contenders?
it's that new?
pearl stratus
@magic zinc Airport leakboy is lucky he's not "stalker in jail anal leak boy"
Prior to him changing his post he had like 8-9 pictures of Flower, with him literally stalking her around the airport.
It was creepy as fuck.
vagrant niche
i mean, isnt' that what paparazi do?
pearl stratus
Yeah, and most people think they're the type of people you fund planned parenthood because of.
Normal people shouldn't try that shit.
If Flower had called security and the dude had gotten teh shit kicked out of him I would have thought the story was better.
Btw
Twitter
1/10 for Logo.
vagrant niche
pearl stratus
But at least finalized.
vagrant niche
soooo, who are these second wind?
vagrant niche
ye ye
pearl stratus
He's a two way contract for Boston.
pearl stratus
Honestly its a pretty stacked roster, overall.
pearl stratus
Trill.
vagrant niche
yeee
pearl stratus
he's on Envy Academy.
vagrant niche
Trill needs a team
nice nice
I heard that Guxue got into OWL
that's good for him
he's good as well
vagrant niche
now when are we going to put that boi Patiphan on a team as well?
vagrant niche
boi, i wish i could have 1/3 of his aim
that's what i'm trying to work right now
with Ashe
i suck so much on aim
pearl stratus
I personally don't think he should relocate at his age, though a Korean kid just did.
vagrant niche
everything else i feel i'm ok
pearl stratus
Who's 15 and nutty.
But imagine moving to a new country to play OW at 15, in the middle of just basic primary school?
pearl stratus
Yeah Guangzhou.
I'm actually worried about Kyb underperforming and getting a bit upset.
Because he only really played 2 dps for any length of time in the OWWC, so the scouting is interesting.
But he was always solid on hurricane.
vagrant niche
When is Kragie goin got get scouted
he needs to follow his bro Dafran
he was on hurricane no?
so basically team Canada is going to be team Korean
pearl stratus
He was, but he's eh.
vagrant niche
rip the Canucks
they have the talent
Mangachu, crimzo
etc
and they going full Korean
vagrant niche
yeah i guess, but i dont know, i think some people from canada would like it
vagrant niche
did they ever went to london?
twin cobalt
That Boston team looks sick
pearl stratus
Yeah.
They've been there a few times, did some Galas.
They brought Houston over and did a Rivalry match with Houston in London too.
vagrant niche
is Panker moving to OWL?
pearl stratus
No news yet, so maybe not.
vagrant niche
pearl stratus
From an outside perspective there's so much more important than just being good though.
Like Crimzo, for instance. He may be insanely good (we've seen him do well) - but a player thats even just a little bit worse who has better synergy with the team they're trying out for is better.
Synergy in OW outweighs just about everything.
vagrant niche
XL has good synergy that's for sure
pearl stratus
Look at Mano + Meko. They're both very very strong tanks, but they're the strongest when they're together.
If you break them up you have individuals who are better.
Hence Fury on the World Cup team.
vagrant niche
Gesture is a beast tho
mang, people on game say Orisa is boring
i'm like
you never seen Gesture?
pearl stratus
He is though, but all tanks are really only as good as their off-tanks allow them to be most of the time.
Gesture gets a lot of ability to do the things he does because of his OT.
vagrant niche
the moment on game i had praising Stevo to the 4 heavens on my game, i knew at that moment we were going down
"bruh, he makes such sick let clicks with symetra"
pearl stratus
I mean nowadays we give Stevo a hard time, but Sym's in a much different place in ladder. We just all kind of hate Stevo.
Yet Seagull is T500 with a 78% win rate with Sym.
But we all love Seagull.
vagrant niche
honestly, i don't think Seagull is that good
he makes very dumb game decisions, i as a plat say, "why?"
pearl stratus
Nah he's ridiculous, he just plays to not tilt anymore.
Also like most pro/ex-pro players he doesn't care about ladder.
Ladder is for fucking around, it teaches you bad habits and not where you find good players lol
vagrant niche
and here i can't get myself out of plat with neither Pharah or Brigitte cause i have to rely too much on team and i get punished for being too agro
i have to get myself out pasively with Ashe
but i need the good aim for that
Please Timo give me your energy
karmic grotto
@pearl stratus explain yourself?
pearl stratus
Again that was for pros.
For normal people ladder is fine.
But the stuff that happens on ladder is not replicated in a pro environment, and things you can get away with on ladder you can't get away with in pro play.
karmic grotto
Ah yes
pearl stratus
So getting too used to it, as a pro player, can lead to some pretty bad results.
karmic grotto
Punishment
pearl stratus
Yeah, look at Doomfist - for instance.
On ladder? Crazy oppressive, gets in and out, etc.
karmic grotto
Doomfist is a god in ladder
pearl stratus
Pro play? He gets punished as much as he doesn't.
They have the communication to handle him.
vagrant niche
we just need a system where we have ranked following the exact gameplay style as OWL
like
main tank, flex heals
etc
pearl stratus
It's nothing about systems.
karmic grotto
Scrims and pugs
pearl stratus
Because if your team doesn't talk the system still fails.
You need a fundamental change in the mindset of people who plasy competitive.
If you want to have OWL like games you need to be an OWL person which means no trolling, no toxicity, communication etc.
vagrant niche
I talk all the time, and i'm like "Guys why are you quiet??? talk to me? what's going on healers? what's giving you trouble?"
and people tell me
"DUUUDE SHUT UPPP"
and then i make callouts, and when people follow them, we do ok
then people stop following, and they do whatever they want
it goes to shit
pearl stratus
The problems with ladder have very little to do with hero balance.
The problems with ladder is that people don't want to play a team game most of the time.
There's no popping off and hard carrying in OW (mostly - Widow can make arguments otherwise), but people tend to try and play like it
broken sky
I don't really play overwatch anymore but I do like the overwatch league, I used to watch it all the time last time it was on. Will it be on again next year?
vagrant niche
thing is the thing, so many on reddit etc complain
about the same thing
i do it too
but why can't just band together
if we all share the same mentality and goal
pearl stratus
@broken sky Season 2 starts Feb 14
vagrant niche
if it wasn't for Ashe, i would not be playing Overwatch
League was more entertaining than playing the game itself
cause it was like, man, i wish i could play like this
broken sky
True
vagrant niche
and when i mean play like this, not really mean skill level
i meant environment like
where people coordinating ults etc
focusing on targets
peeling
positioning
etc
Bruh, sometimes i get those crazy Fragi like reins on my games, and i'm like, DUDE GET IN HELP HIM. If he dies we all die
nobody follows and i die shortly after the rein
sometimes when it's just way too far i just let him die alone
ruby pendant
That's how I view the OWL , a more organized competitive mode. They actually have monetary /etc risk and rewards as an incentive for teams to do well.
vagrant niche
bois, Contenders is going to start soon
upper niche
Contenders is already a week in, where you been?
all day at work this week I've had Aus and US contenders on.
vagrant niche
i seen EU
but not NA
off, not even 2k viewers
no wonder they keep cutting money
ruby pendant
2k viewers now
vagrant niche
we 2k poverty now
upper niche
Yeah, the viewer numbers aren't great.
ruby pendant
These numbers are only getting better! 3k views!
vagrant niche
that Lucio scream
wtf
can these casters chillax on talking down on goats
honestly, that's the meta and so be it
hidden vault
Is it some strat by LA Glads to have all Finnish supports?
vagrant niche
dam boi
slow walrus
Biggoose and shaz were both on the same contenders team so they're seasoned as far as playing together and peeling for each other
vagrant niche
3 points on overtime
slow walrus
idk about the 3rd support but I'd imagine it lets them all specialize a little bit more in what healers they play
upper niche
DpsZen
hidden vault
Probably would explain why they got an ana player
balmy wolf
I sware if the LAGladiators ever do that again I will cry I was sad to there they were "kicked".
ripe shale
I wonder, will Rck perform the same flex role as efficiently well as Seagull did for Dallas Fuel 🤔
ruby pendant
feel bad for them and snillo, they've been demoted!
warped axle
LETS GO ENVY
torpid charm
https://twitter.com/ChengduHunters/status/1067976534454095873 me looking at the jersey 
me looking at that sweet tattoo 
sullen berry
Kyo from KoF has joined the battle!
I'm already getting it confused with the fusion tees
torpid charm
That’s what some in Fusion discord are saying rn
sullen berry
More white accent in fusion, its completely forgotten and the brown is (not really) sticking out
torpid charm
In person they probably look very different
gaunt acorn
@torpid charm the jerseys are the same as s1
i don't know about this
i still have some hope they'll be redesigned for s2
but of course they aren't finished/decided yet, so any promotional jersey material right now is just using the old design
torpid charm
They’re getting a redesign
sullen berry
Wow Dray your #esports-news
Very cool
Announcement before an announcement is about to be announced
torpid charm
Dray is always several steps ahead
sullen berry
To be fair
How many of the new teams went out of their way to pre-announce the reveal date?
Toronto, GZ and Vancouver
and I do not recall
upper niche
That hunters colour looks indistinguishable to me from Philly's colour 😦
torpid charm
I’m ready to see Fusion S2 jersey even though I know I won’t buy it
The boys are back in Philly & I get to see them this weekend, Vancouver reveal is on Friday, it’s gonna be a good weekend
copper solstice
First thing I notice about Kyo is his arm tattoo
sullen berry
It's no fiveking/sio's lucio leg tattoo
torpid charm
I love that Lucio leg tat