Meet the lineup: Guangzhou Charge announce ten man roster
With most of the expansion teams in the Overwatch League announcing roster lineups and teasing their branding for next season, Guangzhou Charge have taken the next big step as a new organization. The ten man roster for Guangzhou will feature an international lineup, with two players hailing from their native China, four players from Korea’s Meta Bellum, and two Western players that played in the Overwatch Contenders scene last year.
© Blizzard Entertainment
The roster will be spearheaded by former Philadelphia Fusion Flex player Choi “HOTBA” Hong-jun as he will likely take the position of Team Captain being the only player on this roster with previous experience in the Overwatch League.
Start with synergy
While the team selections for Guangzhou Charge may seem scatterbrained at first glance, the roster building for Guangzhou’s coaching staff has a clear outline for success on multiple levels. From a popularity standpoint, this roster appeals to all fan bases of Overwatch as it features strong up and coming talent from Korea, proven Chinese players from a major organization back home, and a few Overwatch Contenders talents that will work well as two-way players.
Starting with the LGD Gaming exports, Chen “OnlyWish” Lizhen and Ou “Eileen” Yiliang are a solid DPS – Support duo that can provide a different look to the roster. Eileen and OnlyWish came in second place on two occasions as part of LGD during the Overwatch Contenders: China series last year. Eileen’s ability to play projectile DPS has taken him far on his journey as an Overwatch pro, but the new jump in competition will be his greatest challenge yet as he competes with three other DPS mains for a spot.
© Blizzard Entertainment
Rounding out the DPS core, Finley “Kyb” Adisi and Charlie “nero” Zwarg are joining from British Hurricane and Toronto Esports respectively as they compete with the already established prospects on the team. Kyb was a massive playmaker for Team United Kingdom during the Overwatch World Cup this year, and his momentum is at an all-time high joining this team. Nero is a lesser known quantity within the scene, but his age being just 17 will prevent him from participating in the Overwatch League until May of next year.
How good are the Guangzhou Charge?
The quartet from Korea’s Meta Bellum will be the most impactful additions to this Guangzhou Charge team. If they all live up to their expectations and perform as expected, Guangzhou have a good chance of upsetting a few established Overwatch League teams over the course of the season. If for some reason this core group of players fail to get going in the early stages, Guangzhou will lag behind mightily.
Luckily, all four players on this roster have a lot of upside. Kim “Chara” Jung-yeon, Oh “Rio” Seung-pyo and Lee “Happy” Jung-woo are all under 20 years old, and have enjoyed massive success as a top four team in Korea in both splits of Overwatch Contenders.
Lee ‘WonJaeLee’ Won-jae has played on multiple teams in Korea for the past two years, and is just now getting his chance at the big stage. Meta Bellum were never a star team by any means, but these four players are a perfect example of Meta Bellum’s greatest strength as a team — consistency.
© Philadelphia Fusion
Consistency is a virtue in the Overwatch League, but you can’t get to the top of the mountain without legitimate star players in every single role. Even with HOTBA manning the frontline as a solid D.Va player, Guangzhou will need much more than prospect hype to seriously compete for a playoff position at the end of the year. Happy, Kyb and Eileen all have the makings of future Overwatch stars, but the end goal can only be realized if they follow up the hype with proper work ethic and team cohesion.
