Finally, after so much waiting, the 2022 season for the Overwatch League is almost here! Indeed, we’ve been studying the roster moves. Accordingly, we’re ready to break down some of the OWL Rostermania 2022, highlighting some of the more notable changes below!
OWL Rostermania 2022 – Focusing on Complete Rebuilds
Here’s a reminder – it’s been 6 months since the end of the 2021/22 season. Indeed, it was at the September OWL 2021 Playoffs that the Shanghai Dragons took home the World Championship. Naturally, we can’t possibly cover every single roster change since then.
Instead, we’ll be looking at some of the more interesting rosters formed from the 20 franchised teams! Indeed, considering the move from 6v6 to 5v5 teams, everybody made some changes.
Specifically, we’ll be looking at overhauled franchises. By this, we mean teams which have radically changed their team structure with at least 4 roster changes involved. Accordingly, this makes the franchise more unpredictable and ripe for potential heading into the coming season.
Accordingly, the following franchises have made radical changes:
- Los Angeles Gladiators
- Vancouver Titans
- Philadelphia Fusion
- Los Angeles Valiant
- London Spitfire
- San Francisco Shock
- Toronto Defiant
- New York Excelsior
- Houston Outlaws
- Washington Justice
- Florida Mayhem
- Boston Uprising
- Hangzhou Spark
- Atlanta Reign
Now, let’s dive deeper into the teams which have rebuilt their entire rosters!
Vancouver Titans – A New Team, A Shaky Past
Last season, the Vancouver Titans offered quite a shaky season with no impressive placements. Indeed, this contrasted their 2019 season where they earned multiple podium finishes. In response to the poor performance, the franchise was one of the only to completely sweep the roster.
Take a look below:
- Luka “Aspire” Rolovic
- Niclas “sHockWave” Jensen
- Nick “False” Wiseman
- Petja “Masaa” Kantanen
- Park “Aztac” Jeong-su
- Maximilian “Seicoe” Otter
- Robert “Skairipa” Lupsa
Let’s see if this new bundle of competitors could grant the franchise success similar to the past!
Los Angeles Valiant – Mid-Tier Isn’t Enough
On the contrary, the Los Angeles Valiant franchise offered a stronger performance last season. Offering one podium together with mid-tier finishes, the franchise stillw asn’t happy.
Considering their competitive nature for the past few years, changes were expected. Yet, nobody expected a complete swipe. Yet, in pursuit of success, the entire team has been rebuilt from the ground up.
Here’s the roster for the 2022 OWL season:
- Weida “Diya” Lu
- Oh “Innovation” Seok-hyeon
- Kim “Becky” Il-ha
- Tong “ColdEst” Xiaodong
- Chen “Lengsa” Jingyi
- Lee “Ezhan” Ji-han
- Song “SASIN” Sang-hyun
With a DPS focused team, let’s see how they’ll adapt to the new meta of Overwatch 2.
Florida Mayhem – Looking for Consistency – OWL Rostermania 2022
And then, there’s our third franchised team making a full roster sweep. However, in this context, they’re also the historically least achieved team out of the three.
Specifically, it’s a lack of consistency which haunts this team. Last season, despite a 16th place finish at the Regular Season, they surprised everyone with a 3rd place finish at the May Melee event. They’ve gone through this pattern for a few seasons now.
Attempting to fix this for next season, a brand new roster is here. Find it listed below:
- Majed “SirMajed” Alrashied
- Baek “Checkmate” Seung-hun
- Adam “Adam” Soong
- Ham “SOMEONE” Jeong-wan
- Taesung “Anamo” Jung
- Isaiah “Hydron” Rodriguez
- Youngseo “KariV” Park
- Jung “Xzi” Ki-hyo
Offering an international roster, it’s a rather interesting roster to say the least. Perhaps this unique mix could give the franchise an edge over the other teams.
OWL Rostermania 2022 – Shanghai Dragons Untouched
To conclude this discussion, we’d like to contrast these franchises with arguably one of the best in the world.
Indeed, as the current World Champions, the likes of Shanghai Dragons have not made any changes at all really – only signing one additional player in the form of Huichang “BeBe” Yoon.
As you can tell – while other teams are rebuilding, others are sticking to what’s proven to work.
It’s this combination of franchises that has us so excited for another unpredictable season of competitive Overwatch!
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