The OverSeer: Overwatch League End-of-S2 Power Rankings + Roster Discussions

It's been a minute since the Overwatch League's second season concluded with the dominant victory of the San Francisco Shock. Since then, we've entered the off-season, where teams re-evaluate their player contracts, and make roster moves to prepare for the ensuing year of play.

Welcome to The OverSeer, a segment of my blog that will discuss Overwatch's professional scene, mainly involving the Overwatch League. If you're wondering why I deserve your reading time with respect to Overwatch eSports, well, I'm a big fan of OWL, and I've been studying it as well as Overwatch in general in great detail this past season. I had begun sharing my thoughts on the pro scene and the meta on Medium, but I didn't get a big audience there due to the platform's exclusivity. On Blogger, I'm certain that my posts can reach a wider audience and help me spread knowledge about the game more easily.

Before we begin, please note that the opinions I share on this blog are solely my own, and you're free to disagree with anything I say. I love having healthy discussions with the community, so go ahead and use that comments section at the end for any feedback you may have.

This particular post will contain my personal power rankings based on each OWL team's performance in Season 2, and I will also discuss the roster moves these teams made so far, while suggesting some of my own. Also, please note that my knowledge about the pro scene is limited, and I'm very new to looking at roster changes and the like, so please bear with me; I will try my best to be as clear, concise and accurate as possible.

To get through the main content without taking up too much of your time, I've simply summarised each team's performance throughout each stage in one or two statements. Please note the following about my analyses:

• I've ranked each team for their performance in each stage on the basis of factors like skill floor, skill ceiling, consistency, strength of schedule, versatility and adaptability.
• Not each of these quantities can be summed up and explained in text, so I've only written about the most observable ones.
• The stage ranks don't mathematically compute to the final ranks, since they are only relative measures of each team's performance. The actual difference in skill level between teams varied greatly in each meta, and that cannot be expressed, at least by me, in numbers.

As for the roster move discussions, I've decided to follow a few rules to restrict my thought process. I don't want to get carried away and start theory-crafting in my first ever team-building discussion, so:

• Only official roster moves and announcements will be considered true and all rumours will be considered false.
• It will be assumed that no more players can get traded to other teams.
• It will be assumed that players who have been released by their teams will not return to those teams.
• Only free agents will be up for recruitment.

I hope that clears up everything you needed to know, so let's get into my power rankings and roster discussions for the post-season of the Overwatch League, 2019.
(Roster changes noted as of 4:07am IST, November 11th, 2019)

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#20- DALLAS FUEL

STAGE 1 (#10): Good level of play, borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#12.5): Played well and were fairly consistent; easy strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#18): Had a poor and extremely inconsistent showing.

STAGE 4 (#19): Terrible performance, extremely inconsistent.

Alright, let's talk about Dallas' roster. The players they seem to have retained are aKm, Closer, HarryHook, Mickie, Taimou, Trill, uNKOE and ZacharEEE.

They've also signed back NotE, recruited Gamsu, and traded OGE to the Gladiators for Decay.

That's 11/12 spots taken. Although the Fuel could try and fill that last spot with a talented player, we should think about whether they truly need to. Paying 11 players' salaries must require a significant amount of money, so I think Dallas should either go for a low-cost contract, or simply finalise this roster and save their money for trades during the 2020 season. I think at this point their tank line is sorted, with Gamsu and NotE being versatile on their roles and having synergy with each other from their time with the Uprising. The 4 damage dealers on the roster cover all the traditional hitscan heroes as well as a ton of flankers, so I don't think that pool needs to be expanded farther right now. Maybe, just maybe, the Fuel could add HaGoPeun as a second flex support? He was released by the Florida Mayhem and doesn't currently have a team. Also, he has played with Closer before during their days with GC Busan as well as the London Spitfire, so maybe the Fuel could try to recruit him at a low cost. I think that will improve the coordination in their support line, and give uNKOE time to re-develop some synergy with HarryHook, so that they could be a second support line for the team to use. At the end of it, the Fuel could have two separate fieldable rosters. It would help give the players more respite, since travel will be a major part of Season 3.

I think with the right kind of coaching, Dallas could be a much better roster in 2020, so let's see if they end up getting a 12th player and go for the two-roster move I think they should implement, or if they make any changes we don't see coming.

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#19- TORONTO DEFIANT

STAGE 1 (#7): Good level of play.

STAGE 2 (#14): Sub-par performance, very inconsistent.

STAGE 3 (#19.5): Had a terrible showing.

STAGE 4 (#19): Showed sub-par gameplay and were fairly inconsistent.

Talk about appealing to the home crowd! The Toronto Defiant have made some very crowd-pleasing changes to their lineup, which I'm sure you'll be excited about especially if you're Canadian. Returning from Season 2 are RoKy (two-way contract), Mangachu and Logix, and their return is accompanied by the addition of a massive wave of Overwatch talent.

The Defiant have signed KariV, Agilities, Beast (formerly called Beasthalo), Surefour, Kellex and Nevix! This is a monster of a squad! You've got 3 Canadians in Mangachu, Agilities and Surefour, which is a great way to drive your brand forward.

That's 9 players, although RoKy seemingly won't be a regular player for the squad. Quite frankly, I think this roster is pretty sorted. If I were to make additions though, and took the approach the management seems to be taking, I'd go for more Canadian players. For example, how sweet would it be if Crimzo and Bani were added to the roster? You'd have a Canadian support line and would get more fans from your home country. Even if these sound like great moves on paper though, I don't think the Defiant's support line needs an upgrade. KariV and Kellex are very experienced players, and replacing them with two Canadians won't necessarily improve their team's performance. Hence, I rest my case for the Toronto squad, and wish them good luck for Season 3.

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#18- BOSTON UPRISING

STAGE 1 (#9): Good level of play, easier-than-average strength of schedule.

STAGE 2 (#7): High skill cap but fairly inconsistent play; difficult strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#16): Unimpressive and very inconsistent performance.

STAGE 4 (#20): Horrible run.

After a pretty disappointing season, the Uprising decided to rework their roster to a vast degree. They've only retained Fusions, Axxiom and Colourhex from the 2019 season, which means the majority of the team is going to be replaced.

As a result, the Uprising have added DPS player Jerry, flex support Myunbong, main support Swimmer and off-tank player Mouffin (two-way contract) to their roster.

As I see it, the support line is sorted, although I think helping Swimmer out with his Uprising Academy support teammate, Dino, could be a good move. The synergy would really help, since there are a lot of English-speakers on the team. As for the tank line, well, we all know how great of a player and leader Fusions is. Even though Mouffin is signed as an off-tank, he might not be able to play for the team regularly because of his Contenders commitments. Therefore, it would be necessary to add a second off-tank; one who speaks English and can play multiple heroes on the role. My choice would be Finnsi, who was recently released by the Paris Eternal. We've seen how good of a D.Va he is, and he's also put on good performances on Zarya and Roadhog. I think he would supplement Fusions quite well. Since we're recruiting ex-Eternal players, why not go all-out and acquire ShaDowBurn and Danye too? Their presence would really add more flexibility to the team, since Danye plays a mean Bastion and ShaDowBurn's performance on Mei was fairly impressive in Stage 4 this year (not to mention his legendary Genji and Pharah play). I think Boston will have a pretty solid roster if they get this lineup: Fusions, Axxiom, Mouffin and Finnsi on tank; Colourhex, Jerry, Danye and ShaDowBurn on DPS; and Swimmer, Myunbong and Dino on support. Of course, we'll have to assume Boston has enough money to get some of these players on board, and we are going to do exactly that.

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#17- HOUSTON OUTLAWS

STAGE 1 (#14): Looked okay, were borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#20): Terrible showing.

STAGE 3 (#10): Played decently well and had an easy strength of schedule.

STAGE 4 (#16): Lackluster performance, fairly inconsistent gameplay.

My oh my, Houston is really going big on the firepower in Season 3. They currently still have Boink, coolmatt, JAKE, LiNkzr, Muma, Rawkus and SPREE with them, which means their core has been retained. Danteh is under team option, meaning he will become a free agent if he isn't re-signed to the roster by November 11th. If I were part of the Outlaws though, I'd totally retain him. His Tracer and Sombra play is pretty sick, and can't be ignored.

In addition to the above players, Houston has also signed Hydration and 

blasé, who are both talented DPS players. I'm really getting 2019 Shock vibes here, since some of these players have overlapping hero pools. However, I'm sure each of the damage dealers will have a purpose, since Harsha, who is their new head coach, is quite the brainiac. There's been a lot of discussion in the community about whether the Outlaws need a more versatile off-tank player than coolmatt and SPREE, and I do believe they could benefit from one. However, by the end of Stage 4, SPREE had shown some potential on D.Va as well as Roadhog, even though he is primarily a Zarya player, and I think he can be developed into a well-rounded off-tank with some attentive coaching, which I'm sure Harsha can provide. I really don't have any hires to suggest to the Outlaws. Their DPS lineup is stacked, their tanks are potent, and their support line, although many people think Rawkus isn't that good, is at a decent level. I'd just suggest Houston to really work on their off-tank and flex support slots, since they're salvageable at the moment, and if things don't go their way, they can scout for new talent when the League kicks off and make some changes after Stage 1.

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#16- FLORIDA MAYHEM

STAGE 1 (#19): Poor performance, very inconsistent gameplay.

STAGE 2 (#19): Played terribly.

STAGE 3 (#17): Mediocre showing, extremely inconsistent.

STAGE 4 (#8): Looked good and played very consistently.

As of right now, the Mayhem only have Fate and Sayaplayer under contract. They also have BQB, Byrem, Gargoyle, Karayan and Kris on team option. I think the management will definitely re-sign BQB and Gargoyle because of their fantastic performances on Sombra and Roadhog/D.Va respectively in Season 2. Byrem and Kris, I think, can still be a viable support line, and I wouldn't mind retaining them either. Karayan, however, is a bit of a question mark, since he barely saw any playtime. Also, why would you field him over Fate, who is highly experienced and plays multiple main tanks on a high level? Yet, I would be okay with them keeping him as a backup. Who knows, he may be really good too!

So far, the Mayhem haven't officially announced any additions, but I have a couple to suggest for them. First up, I don't think the tank line and support line need any additions. They've got most of their hero pools covered pretty well, and I'm sure they can adapt based on the meta. That said, the DPS line is fantastic too, and I think the main reason Florida got some of their wins this season was because BQB and Sayaplayer came up with the goods and popped off. However, knowing how reliant the game's meta has become on specific DPS picks as well, I think it won't hurt to have a more diverse roster with different signature heroes. That's why, I want to suggest the additions of ArHaN (released from the Houston Outlaws) and YOUNGJIN (released from the Shanghai Dragons) to the group. ArHaN, as you may know, is a great Genji player, and has played alongside Sayaplayer in Meta Athena, a Contenders team. As for YOUNGJIN, well, we all saw him pop off on the Doomfist in Stage 3 this year, and he has never disappointed on that hero. Also, Doomfist is currently meta, and we don't how long that will be the case, so before all pro fist players are taken off the market, it'll be good for Florida to have him as insurance. Even though more additions could certainly take place, this core can take Florida to at least the middle-of-the-pack, and that's still an upgrade if you look at how 2018 as well as 2019 have been for the organisation.

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#15- WASHINGTON JUSTICE

STAGE 1 (#18): Performed quite poorly.

STAGE 2 (#16.5): Looked okay but were fairly inconsistent.

STAGE 3 (#19.5): Had a terrible showing. 

STAGE 4 (#3): Played extremely well and were very consistent.

The Washington Justice proved to be a DPS powerhouse in the last quarter of Season 2, but there were edges that needed sharpening, which is why the management has released a good amount of their players already. Currently, they have Corey, ELLIVOTE and LullSiSH under contract, with the option to retain Stratus. They have either released the rest or their contracts have expired. Ark is one such player whose contract ran out, but I think re-signing him would be a good move. He did a good job on the team and really contributed to their culture of positivity.

Since the off-season began, the Justice have signed main tank rOar (from the Gladiators), DPS player TTuba, and flex support AimGod (from the Uprising). rOar's signing is a bit puzzling, since LullSiSH is a pretty versatile main tank, and has been playing with ELLIVOTE for a long time. This begs me to ask what role rOar will play on this squad, but maybe they plan on recruiting another off-tank to play with him. TTuba's addition is also a little strange, since he and Stratus seem to have very similar hero pools; but I haven't seen the guy play, so I won't claim it's a bad move at all. AimGod is the most impressive and sensible addition to the roster. He had an insane showing in Season 2 with the Uprising, and hopefully, he'll get to see more playtime in 2020. He will also be able to coordinate well with Ark, since they're both Korean. I think these 8 players form a strong enough core to start Season 3 off with, so I won't suggest any more roster changes to the Justice for now.

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#14- CHENGDU HUNTERS

STAGE 1 (#11): Played well but were very inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#10): Did a good job and were fairly consistent.

STAGE 3 (#7): High skill cap but fairly inconsistent performances, tough strength of schedule.

STAGE 4 (#12): Had a good showing but were slightly inconsistent.

PLAYOFFS (#12 of 12):  Had a very underwhelming run.

The team that holds the record of the highest variety of team compositions run in the Overwatch League, the Chengdu Hunters have a unique roster situation...all their players are still under contract. So yes, you will be seeing more of Ameng rolling around assassinating people on Hammond, watching JinMu flying around the map blasting people on Pharah, and watching YangXiaoLong wasting EMPs at every chance he gets on Sombra. I think this is fine, since they've essentially retained all the synergy their players built over the 2019 season. Maybe they can take advantage of that and get some early wins against rosters that have actually been reworked, which would give them a significant head start over their competition. The Hunters have deep hero pools and are all individually talented, so I don't think they need any roster additions to start Season 3 off with.

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#13- PARIS ETERNAL

STAGE 1 (#17): Mediocre level of play, fairly inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#18): Performed quite weakly.

STAGE 3 (#14): Looked okay, borderline inconsistent. 

STAGE 4 (#13): Played well but were a little too inconsistent.

The first expansion team from the European region, the Paris Eternal's USP was that they'd harbour pure European talent in their roster. It'll suffice to say that this approach didn't sell, which is why this team is going through some major roster changes in the off-season. Currently, all their Frenchmen i.e. BenBest, HyP, NiCOgdh and SoOn are still with them. They also have the option to retain Greyy and Kruise. I think they should definitely re-sign Kruise, since he was a pretty good main support player and a leadership figure for this squad. As for Greyy, there wouldn't be any harm in letting him go, but he is a pretty good flex support player as well, and could sub in for HyP if things aren't working out. So essentially, I'd retain both these support players and let them have a second shot with the org.

Now for the interesting part, which is the additions to this roster. Well, they've added...Sp9rk1e. The whole 'all-European roster' thing is officially out the window, since this young flex DPS player is from South Korea. He's made a big splash in the Contenders scene out there as part of Element Mystic, and is touted as the best Doomfist in South Korea, if not in the world. That is a huge pickup. GG Paris. I mean, I don't even watch a lot of Contenders and I know who this guy is. Anyway, along with him come two of his teammates: off-tank player Hanbin and hitscan DPS player Xzi. As overkill, Element Mystic's coach, Rush, has been signed to guide this roster as well. I really don't think the Eternal need any more additions as of now. They'll just have to make sure their communication is on-point, since I'm not sure if all of these players have been on mixed rosters before. Seriously, GG Paris.
P.S. SoOn, be prepared to get benched, buddy.

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#12- PHILADELPHIA FUSION

STAGE 1 (#3.5): Played really well at their best but were borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#12.5): Good level of play but couldn't maintain their standards.

STAGE 3 (#11.5): Had a good showing but were slightly inconsistent.

STAGE 4 (#6): Performed well, but couldn't always play to their skill cap.

PLAYOFFS (#11 of 12): Disappointing run.

The Season 1 Runner-Ups, the Philly Fusion, have already announced their roster for 2020. They have retained SADO and Poko on tank, Carpe and Eqo on DPS, and Boombox on support.

Their additions have been Fury on off-tank (wow), Ivy on projectile DPS, FunnyAstro on main support, and Alarm on flex support. These are some huge pickups. Fury did an insane job in Season 2, especially during the Goats Meta, where he was eating Graviton Surges left, right and centre as D.Va. Ivy was part of the Defiant at the same time, and was undoubtedly their best Zarya player. FunnyAstro has been rocking the Contenders scene with Atlanta Academy, and Alarm is a flex support worthy of promotion from Fusion University. I suspect Poko is going to see a lot less playtime in Season 3, since Fury performed much better than him this year. Plus, having two Korean tanks playing together makes sense, although Poko has definitely built up synergy with SADO since 2018. The addition of Alarm is slightly confusing, since Boombox hasn't slumped in his performance, at least according to me, and with him and FunnyAstro on the roster, you would have a British backline with pre-made synergy on the go. Similarly, why would you ever sub out Eqo for Ivy? I'm not saying he's a bad player, but Carpe and Eqo have been such an iconic and well-synergised DPS duo since 2018, and they can still work together and achieve success pretty well. Maybe the Fusion are planning on running Fury-Ivy-Alarm as one trio and Poko-Eqo-Boombox as another? SADO-Carpe-FunnyAstro would be constants, of course, and one of the variable trios would be fielded based on the situation/meta. Who knows what Philly have in mind? Anyway, that's a lot of speculation for an already-announced roster, so let's move on to the next one; it's going to be interesting.

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#11- LONDON SPITFIRE

STAGE 1 (#15.5): Played decently well but were borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#5): Played very well and quite consistently.

STAGE 3 (#15): Looked okay but were fairly inconsistent.

STAGE 4 (#14): Had a good showing but were fairly inconsistent.

PLAYOFFS (#10 of 12): Seemed good in parts but made tons of mistakes.

The Overwatch League's inaugural season champions didn't have nearly as successful of a season as their first one this year, and I think they realised that lightning rarely strikes the same place twice. As a result, the Spitfire have undergone major changes thus far. Bdosin and Krillin are currently the only players who are still with them under contract. They still have the option to re-sign Quatermain, their main support player, which I assume they will exercise.

Fury was also under contract with them, but they traded him to the Fusion in exchange for two of their academy players: off-tank BERNAR and main support Fuze. I guess that begs the question why Quatermain is still on the roster, and that is a valid point. Maybe you just let him go and never look back, or maybe you keep him as an anchor for the flex supports on your team, in case they don't synergise well with Fuze. Either of the moves is viable, but to be on the safe side, I'd go for the re-signing. That essentially leaves the main tank slot and both the DPS slots open for occupation. For the main tank slot, I'd say go big. Get Fissure. He's been saying that he wants to compete in the Overwatch League again, and there are rumours that the Titans have signed him, but since there's been no official announcement on that, we're going to assume he's a free agent. His signing would make sense, since it would give the team a big playmaker, and since he's been with the Spitfire before, he's already spent time with Bdosin, and wouldn't feel like a complete outcast in the team. As for the DPS positions, the first name that came to mind was Fl0w3R, who was recently released by the NYXL. This flex DPS player has a vast hero pool, and wouldn't be the only person moving from the Excelsior to the Spitfire, since their coach, Pavane, has also made the transition. Being an emotional player, Flow3R could certainly use a familiar face on his new team. I think to complete the team's core, YOUNGJIN would be a good addition to the DPS line. Similar to the Mayhem, the Spitfire could use a great Doomfist player, especially since Double Barrier could still be meta when Season 3 begins. With the two of their hero pools combined, these young and talented damage dealers would be able to deal with a vast array of team compositions and outplay their opponents. So yeah, that's my suggestion for the London Spitfire's core in 2020: Fissure and BERNAR on tank, Fl0w3R and YOUNGJIN on DPS, and Quatermain, Fuze, Bdosin and Krillin on support.

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#10- LOS ANGELES VALIANT

STAGE 1 (#20): Weakest team in the classic Goats Meta, but still put up a good fight.

STAGE 2 (#11): Played well but were fairly inconsistent.

STAGE 3 (#4): Did an amazing job and played fairly consistently.

STAGE 4 (#10): Had a good showing.

The LA Valiant had their wings clipped in Season 2, where they showed great improvement despite starting off terribly, but still didn't qualify for the Season Playoffs. As of right now, they have Custa and KSF under contract, and have the option to re-sign Shax. According to me, Shax is a must-have due to his stellar Sombra and Reaper play in the second half of the 2019 season, so I'd definitely retain him in the Valiant's place.

McGravy has had his contract renewed already, so he will be playing for the org in 2020. The new additions to the roster so far include main tank Dreamer, projectile DPS player Apply, flex support Slur, and another flex support, Lastro. Essentially, you've got all your roles filled up, and I don't think this roster needs any more players to start the season off with; so I'll just say, good luck Valiant!

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#9- SHANGHAI DRAGONS

STAGE 1 (#8): Looked good, tough strength of schedule.

STAGE 2 (#15):  Played okay, borderline inconsistent, easy strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#1): Godlike performance, fairly consistent gameplay.

STAGE 4 (#18): Mediocre and very inconsistent.

PLAYOFFS (#5 of 12): Decent showing.

After seeing occasional bursts of success in Season 2, the Dragons have decided not to overhaul their roster, but have still made a few changes to it. They have retained the majority of their squad, with diem, Diya (two-way contract), DDing, Geguri, Izayaki and Luffy set to make appearances again in 2020.

Currently, the Dragons lack a main tank player as well as a main support player, so let's think about who in the pro scene might fit in well with this squad. For the main tank slot, I think Shanghai should totally go after Fissure if he's seriously looking for a team. There's no reason not to, the guy is a total chad. If not him, well, I have another idea, but it might not sit well with you guys. Alright, I'm just going to say it...how about Janus? Even though he started off the 2019 season as this great big feeder, he improved as time passed, and became a half-decent main tank at the end of it. Look, Shanghai is all about redemption, and I think redemption is what Janus needs right now, so if the Dragons want, they could give him a shot. I think it could be worth the risk. As for the main support slot, I think NUS could be brought in. He was recently released by the London Spitfire, and his experience could certainly prove valuable to the Dragons. After all, he has been a winner of the Overwatch League at one point. I think the DPS line of diem and DDing covers a good amount of the hero roster, so that role should be fine. So yeah, the core lineup of Fissure/Janus and Geguri on tank, diem, DDing and Diya on DPS, and NUS, Luffy and Izayaki on support would be a good set of players for Shanghai to start Season 3 off with.

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#8- ATLANTA REIGN

STAGE 1 (#12): High skill cap but very inconsistent; easy strength of schedule.

STAGE 2 (#6): Looked good but were fairly inconsistent; difficult strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#11.5): Played well, borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 4 (#2): Had a great showing and were extremely consistent.

PLAYOFFS (#8.5 of 12): Played well but were a little too inconsistent.

A pretty satisfactory opening season for the Atlanta Reign motivated them to not alter their roster too much for Season 3. Currently, they're in a position where they can re-sign babybay, Dogman, Erster, frd, Masaa and Pokpo. If you ask me, they should get all of these players back, since they are all great on their signature roles and have developed good synergy over the 2019 season.

The Reign also announced that Gator and Hawk were being promoted from Atlanta Academy to their OWL roster, which means that the now-famous American tank duo will be able to perform regularly in the big leagues. This does mean that Pokpo and frd will see much less playtime, but maybe you could prepare them as a duo for a different meta and bring them out later, kind of like what the Shock did with their DPS players in Season 2. The Reign's support and DPS lines are already strong enough to be re-fielded in 2020, so I think this squad is good to go for Season 3.

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#7- GUANGZHOU CHARGE

STAGE 1 (#13): Decent showing.

STAGE 2 (#16.5): Looked mediocre and were fairly inconsistent.

STAGE 3 (#9): Played well and were pretty consistent.

STAGE 4 (#7): Good level of play and highly consistent performances.

PLAYOFFS (#6 of 12): Did well but made too many minor mistakes.

Upon achieving a reasonable level of success in Season 2, there was no reason for the Charge to make massive roster changes for 2020, and they probably realised that, which is why there hasn't been a lot of news about new additions and roster changes from them yet. What we do already know is that Chara, Eileen, Happy, nero, Rio and Shu will be returning for Season 3. HOTBA, Rise and OnlyWish are currently under Team Option, and I think the best move for the Charge would be to retain HOTBA and part ways with the remaining two players. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to have them as backup, but they aren't going to be fielded much while Chara and Shu are around. HOTBA though, is key. He was very impressive in the 2019 season on nearly every off-tank he played, and has undoubtedly developed good synergy with the squad.

Using these 7 players as the core would be an efficient use of the Charge's resources, and they can always recruit more players as the season gets underway, in case they need to give the main roster some respite or require specialists of some sort.

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#6- LOS ANGELES GLADIATORS

STAGE 1 (#5): Played well and were incredibly consistent, tough strength of schedule.

STAGE 2 (#9): Looked good and were fairly consistent, easy strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#13): Did a decent job with fairly consistent performances.

STAGE 4 (#5): Great showing.

PLAYOFFS (#8.5 of 12): Were mildly successful and slightly inconsistent.

Big changes are due for the Gladiators, who are set to rework most of their roster for the 2020 season. Only their support line of BigGoose and Shaz have been confirmed to return for Season 3 thus far. They do have Panker and Void under team option, and I think they might want to get Void back. It's not a necessity, knowing the information I'm about to share with you right after this, but he was a pretty good D.Va player for the Gladiators, especially during the Goats Meta. Panker isn't very critical to re-sign, since again, I'm about to share some more interesting information with you all.

The LA Gladiators have added SPACE (from the Valiant), OGE (from the Fuel) and birdring (from the Spitfire) to their roster, which are some very exciting moves. SPACE can play all the off-tanks to a very high level, same with OGE for main tanks, and birdring probably needs a change of scenery to feel useful again. He didn't exactly have a great season with the Spitfire, so this might be his only attempt at getting back on the horse, trying to escort the Gladiators to the Season 3 Championship title. All this is well and good, but this squad still needs a second DPS player. Quite similar to what I suggested for the Spitfire, I think this squad should try and recruit Fl0w3R. He will add a ton of options to their hero pool, and will have a new set of faces to try his luck with. I think that will be quite a good roster: OGE and SPACE on tank (with Void as a sub), birdring and Fl0w3R on DPS, and BigGoose and Shaz on support.

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#5- SEOUL DYNASTY

STAGE 1 (#3.5): Played really well, were borderline inconsistent.

STAGE 2 (#8): Good performance, fairly consistent, difficult strength of schedule.

STAGE 3 (#6): Had a great and pretty consistent showing.

STAGE 4 (#11): Did a good job but were slightly inconsistent.

PLAYOFFS (#7 of 12): Looked good but couldn't maintain their standards of play.

You'd better be sure that the South Korean audience is going to go bonkers when home games are finally played in one of their own cities. To ensure that the hype is warranted, the Dynasty are making major changes to their lineup, in the hope that they can appeal to their fans and take the win in the League's 2020 season. Currently, they've got FITS, Highly, ILLICIT, Jecse, Marve1 and Michelle under contract.

They've also re-signed tobi and promoted Creative, their academy team's flex support, to their OWL roster. That's not all though. The Dynasty have acquired Gesture and Profit from the London Spitfire, and those are two formidable additions to their lineup. This is a stacked roster, and although I have a few questions, like which main tank will be fielded more, why ryujehong hasn't been signed once again, and whether there will be any more additions, I'm satisfied with the state of the team as a whole. Each role has been filled quite well, and I don't have any suggestions other than: please add jehong back!

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#4- NEW YORK EXCELSIOR

STAGE 1 (#6): Played well and were very consistent.

STAGE 2 (#4): Did a great job and were quite consistent.

STAGE 3 (#8): Had a good and very consistent showing.

STAGE 4 (#11): Looked decent, borderline inconsistent.

PLAYOFFS (#4 of 12): Had a great performance.

Ah, the NYXL...never seem to catch a break, do they? This team has been quite formidable in both seasons of the League thus far, but haven't managed to bag the Championship yet. That's probably why they thought it was time they made some changes. This squad still has Anamo, JJoNak, Libero, Mano, Nenne, Pine and Saebyeolbe under contract.

Their next move is obvious: find a new off-tank, since MekO was let go. It took a while for me to think of an appropriate substitute for him, but I think I've finally got it: zunba. This guy has been on the Seoul Dynasty and in the professional scene for a very long time, and I'm sure he'll fit in with this group of highly-experienced players quite well. Since he is LFT at the moment, picking him up shouldn't be a problem. With his addition, I think the NYXL will be good to go for Season 3, and who knows, maybe they'll win it all this time.

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#3- HANGZHOU SPARK

STAGE 1 (#15.5): Looked okay, borderline inconsistent.
STAGE 2 (#3): Did an amazing job, but were a tad bit inconsistent.
STAGE 3 (#3): Performed extremely well and were very consistent.
STAGE 4 (#9): Had a good and fairly consistent showing.

PLAYOFFS (#3 of 12): Played really well and were acceptably consistent.

Definitely the best Chinese OWL team of 2019, the Hangzhou Spark left quite an impression on their audience with some highly-clinical 3-3 play and a very unique style of Double-Barrier. As far as I know, Adora, BeBe, GodsB, guxue, iDK, Ria and SASIN are still under contract with them. The org also has an option to retain NoSmite and ZiJin, but I doubt they will re-sign them to their main roster.

On a micro level, I think Hangzhou's DPS and support lines are okay to be run next season, but I think they should recruit a second off-tank. According to me, Ria can have his off moments and off days and really underperform, even though he's very good most of the time. Just in case he's on an inconsistency streak, it would be good to have a backup option for him...or maybe, just maybe, make Ria the backup option, and try to acquire MekO. He would be a massive addition to the team and really elevate their off-tank play to a whole new level. I think recruiting him and having the already-under-contract 7 on the team would be good enough to start the 2020 season off with.

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#2- VANCOUVER TITANS

STAGE 1 (#1): God-like performance, untouchable.
STAGE 2 (#2): Did an amazing job and were nearly unbeatable.
STAGE 3 (#5): Looked really good and were very consistent.

STAGE 4 (#4): Great and fairly consistent showing.

PLAYOFFS (#2 of 12): Fantastic and pretty consistent gameplay.

The Titans simply signed the entire roster of Contenders team Runaway last year, and this move payed off extremely well. They had a fantastic season, got 2nd place overall, and dominated nearly every opponent of theirs in the League. It's no surprise that they've basically got everyone except Rapel and TiZi, who are on team option, under contract. I'm not certain they will re-sign these two players, since the remaining 7 players on the roster had nearly every meta composition covered throughout the season. Sure, Bumper isn't comfortable on Orisa and Wrecking Ball yet, but he can learn those heroes by the time Season 3 begins, and can perform to a high level on them.

Hence, I think the Titans should venture into 2020 with the players they already have under contract, and avoid making additions until they're absolutely certain they need them. ====================================================================

#1- SAN FRANCISCO SHOCK

STAGE 1 (#2): Did an amazing job and were fairly consistent.
STAGE 2 (#1): Played like Gods and barely lost any maps.
STAGE 3 (#2): Had a fantastic and formidable showing.

STAGE 4 (#1): Best team in the Bunker Meta.

PLAYOFFS (#1 of 12): Barely vulnerable, another Godlike run.

It's hard to argue against the fact that the Shock were the best team in the Overwatch League's second season. They played every meta to an insanely high level, and were always Top 2 in every stage, no matter what. It's almost as if the management knew this roster was going to do wonders, since every player of theirs except Nevix (who has now joined the Defiant), is still under contract with them.

What changes do the Shock need? Absolutely nothing. This squad managed to put up some of the most dominant performances we have ever seen in the Overwatch League, and although it's hard to say whether they will achieve the same kind of success next year as well, it is certainly possible, looking at the amount of talent and synergy this bunch of people possesses.

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That was a lot of information to take in, wasn't it? I'm really glad you did though, it means my material had some value, and that's really encouraging, so thank you so much for the read!
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Anyway, I think I should take my leave now, so thanks again for dropping by, and I hope to see you in my next post! Cheers!