In a Tuesday Tweet, NA Contenders team GOATS announced that they were rebranding to “First Generation”. A new logo and changes to their roster and staff were announced alongside the rebrand – and they’re looking good.
First Generation’s roster has slimmed down in some areas, but gained some bulk in others. Shayne “Chayne” La Rocque and GOATS alum Colin “Coluge” Arai are both out, with Estevao “Hooey” Gama transitioning from support to an off-tank role alongside former San Francisco Shock main tank David “Nomy” Ramirez. I’m interested to see how Hooey does up front.
GOATS OG Kelden “Boostio” Pupello is out, and Enkae has been moved into a substitute role. Team Denmark standout Nikolai “naGGa” Dereli is joined by Nikolaj “Zaprey” Ian Moyes, who played for Bazooka Puppiez in EU Contenders Trials last month. Good luck keeping those names straight.
Support is where First Gen will try and separate from the pack in NA Contenders. GOATS alum Tensa is joined by former NRG and Luminosity standout Rob4- I mean, Robert “robdab” Garcia, who has quietly become one of the most experienced supports in NA.
First Generation are stocking up on strong tanks, experienced supports and flexible DPS – their former namesake is still the composition du jour in competitive Overwatch, and GOATS-comp derivatives have dominated the meta for months at this point. There has been plenty of room for experimentation, though, so First Generation are no doubt hedging their bets – making sure they have a roster that can adapt to the new metas of Sombra/Doomfist Dive, Winston-centric 3/3 compositions and whatever Ashe will do. Not a bad idea.
To supplement the roster, First Generation’s staff have also made some moves.
Analyst Simon “simon” Schumph is out, and a new assistant coach Alex “Aurace” Nguyen is in. He was a part of NASEF Overwatch and League of Legends squads before joining First Generation. Reklats is joined up top by a new team manager, Wave, and the remainder of the staff from GOATS. Head Coach Blizzard declined to comment on the team’s confidence going into Contenders, but I’m just gonna assume that means they’re busy working. Stay tuned!
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Featured Image Courtesy of First Generation
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