College esports have always been a weird thing for most people to grasp. It's not quite the pro scene, but it isn't amateur either. Some collegiate pros see it as a stepping stone to enter professional play, while others are firm in continuing their non-esports related career path after graduation.
However, there is another side of the story. One that involves a blow to Chinese national pride and concerns that the Dragon's already established communication issue will be further exaggerated with the inclusion of a Korean / Chinese language barrier.
Today, the Shanghai Dragons proved the rumors true and officially confirmed four new players to join their roster. In addition to the roster news, Dragons have also confirmed an updated "player selection policy" regarding future Chinese players during season 2,
What better way to celebrate that special Overwatch person in your life with a card that symbolizes what really matters in life? Happy Valentines Day!
I'm going to focus on what I know for certain. Here are the three Overwatch League truths I've learned from interviewing pro players, team captains, player managers and everyone in between during stage 1.
I mean, I was "good", but if I played that way now, I would be hard feeding. I would be really, really bad. It just shows how much everything has improved. If you look at other Tracers a year from now, you would think that everyone now is just so bad.
Multiple rumors have been floating around regarding Shanghai Dragon making a big roster move, but they had always been separate from the persistent rumor of Geguri joining the league. As of today, this is the first major report of Geguri's move to a pro-Overwatch League team.
Clockwork was a Team Fortress 2 god. Now, he plays for the Houston Outlaws as a DPS sub, his days of being an "I'm-better-than-everything-and-any-one type of player" behind him. Instead, Clockword exudes an uncommon level of empathy towards his teammates and their success.
Are we right to expect any moral standard? Is that really what Twitch and live streaming are even about?
But things never got better for the Dragons. Defeat, after defeat, the community narratives began to form and the Chinese team is unanimously viewed as the Leagues official underdogs. With a record of 0-8, I was most interested in speaking with Chao "UNDEAD" Fang.
I honestly can't imagine how Jeff Kaplan and this team plan on addressing the growing resentment competitive players are harboring against "one-trick" players.
I still haven't decided which team I want to publically endorse as my favorite, but it's hard to not like an organization when their events are such a blast to attend.
"This is my first experience getting paid to do something and it's playing video games. Not a lot of people do that. I came from Canada and my whole world changed as soon as I came here"
Maiev is mobile Assassin that excels against clustered enemies and prevents their escape. Her Fan of Knives ability is her primary damage tool and can be upgraded through her talents to deal percentage damage to enemy heroes.
When I met up with Aaron "Bischu" Kim, he had just came from a 4-0 defeat vs. the Houston Outlaws. In my experience, the last thing a professional player wants to do after a hard loss is talk to a reporter.
I had a chance to talk to ShaDowBurn after Fusion's win vs. the Shanghai Dragons this week and was curious as to what he thought about his opponents poor reputation. After all, Fusion also defeated the NYXL powerhouse this week, so their close match against Shanghai Dragons was surprising. Were the Dragons really as weak as fans seem to think?
When I was growing up, esports were always niche, always small, and always required an explanation to those unvetted. Things have changed a lot since those days.
There is a moment in Maiev's hero spotlight where she is specifically described as powerful against high mobility targets. The video then shows her killing Genji after he attempts to escape. So satisfying.
This skin is all that matters. With 11k retweets in just 33 minutes, the fan hype for D.va dressed as an anime style cat girl is about as rabid as you'd expect.
Facebook may be out, but the unique broadcast options for Heroes of the Dorm are still in full effect. Raycom Sports will provide a "dedicated, nationally-syndicated program" over the course of 5 weeks all about Heroes of the Dorm.
