There are still three more, long weeks until the Overwatch League Grand Finals. Fortunately, All-Stars is just around the corner to keep Overwatch Fans entertained. Unlike earlier years, this year’s NA Talent Takedown had a public draft. Team Captains Jacob “Jake” Lyon and Scott “Custa” Kennedy, both former Overwatch League pros, had their picks be announced in a pre-recorded video on the Overwatch League podcast channel “Platchat”. Even though this event is mostly for entertainment, there is still a lot of pride on the line.
First Pick: Brenji
With the first overall pick, Jake immediately ruptured the perceived power ranking of the draft. Instead of selecting the only other player to play for a professional team, Jonathan “Reinforce” Larsson, he selected Brennon “Bren” Hook. Notorious for his stage persona, Brennon had challenged Overwatch League professionals throughout last season to Widowmaker duels. Even though he never won, he was able to get a few points on the board. Together with Jake, they will be a very dangerous DPS duo. Following that surprise, Reinforce was instantly picked up by Custa as the second pick, which established a strong support-tank base for the team
Custa pulls ahead, Jake catches up
The third overall pick also went to Custa to balance out the first pick for Jake. Custa used this opportunity to extend his power advantage over Jake by selecting Andrew “ZP” Rush for his team. This pick might surprise some fans, but it makes a lot of sense. ZP was one of the earliest casters for Overwatch and brings with him the calm and experience a rag-tag casters team might need. He is also experienced in FPS games, having won a LAN event for the game Tribes: Ascend.
However, the next to picks allowed Jake to close the gap with Custa again. In the fourth overall pick, Jake selected Soe Gschwind. Soe is the only two-time winner of the Talent Takedown and a fan-favorite. She is certain to bring a solid support core to Jake´s team. Custa followed this pick with picking newcomer Frankie Ward. Even though she worked with Blizzard in the past, it is unclear how much Overwatch experience she has.
Trading blows with a surprise ending
The following picks were traded evenly, with no team being able to gain a large advantage over the other. Despite this, Jake´s last pick might turn out to become a sleeper hit. Even though he is notorious to feed on his stream, Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson could become a game-changer. If Jake and Brennon are able to keep Sideshow in line, he has proven in the past to be capable of good performances. His support rank is in the higher percentages and he infamously won a Pharah 1v1 against the not warmed-up Florida Mayhem pro Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim. At the end of the day, Sideshow might decide the fate of his team. It is yet unclear, what that fate will be.
NA Talent Takedown Draft Overview:
Team Custa:
Scott “Custa” Kennedy
Jonathan “Reinforce” Larsson
Andrew “ZP” Rush
Frankie Ward
Matt “MrX” Morello
Robert “hexagrams” Kirkbride
Team Jake:
Jacob “Jake” Lyon
Brennon “Bren” Hook
Soe Geschwind
Mitch “Uber” Leslie
Jack “Jaws” Wright
Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson”
The exact date and time of the North American Talent Takedown are yet to be scheduled.
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