Félix “xQc“ Lengyel is one of the biggest names in the competitive Overwatch scene. It was understandable that when the Overwatch League was announced, one of the biggest questions was “Where will xQc go?” Late October of last year it was announced that xQc would take his main tank talents to northeast Texas with the Dallas Fuel.
Life in the Overwatch League started out rough for xQc. After a game against the Houston Outlaws in Stage 1, xQc made some offensive comments about one of the players, Austin “Muma” Wilmot. These comments came on xQc’s personal stream. He was handed a four match ban by the Overwatch League, as well as a $2,000 fine. To add to his punishment, the Dallas Fuel decided to suspend him for the remainder of the stage.
During Stage 2, xQc’s problems seemed to keep piling up. In early March, three players, including xQc, and one coach were all punished by the Overwatch League. xQc got hit the hardest, because this was not his first time being punished by the Overwatch League. He was banned four games and fined $4,000 for comments made about the Overwatch League casters, as well as using an in-game emote in a “racially disparaging manner” according to the Overwatch League. Only a few days later, xQc was released by the Dallas Fuel.
In August, xQc had his account banned from playing Overwatch for 15 days for toxic behavior, specifically abusive language in-game. This however did not affect his place on the roster for Canada for their Overwatch World Cup campaign. Canada played their group stage matches this past weekend, Sept. 7-9.
Image Courtesy of Polygon
The main question still stands; does xQc still have a place in the Overwatch League? It can be argued that having a personality such as his would only bring in more viewers. Look at players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the soccer world, or Draymond Green in the NBA. They are huge personalities, which brings in more viewers. It helps when your biggest league personality is also an incredible player, and that same principle applies to xQc. He is regarded as one of the best tank players in Overwatch, and also won the fan-voted MVP of the 2017 Overwatch World Cup. However, teams will most likely not put up with his toxicity if it continues.
Does the introduction of eight new teams in the Overwatch League mean that xQc could have a spot back in the league? With the addition of eight new teams, that introduces at least 72 new players into the Overwatch League (each Overwatch League team must have nine players on their roster by Dec. 1 of this year). If he continues to show that he is a top level talent, especially during the Overwatch World Cup campaign, it would not be surprising if a few teams came knocking. Would a Canadian-based team look to bring him on as the face of their expansion, or could an already established team look to bring him in for the second season?
The Overwatch League returns in 2019 with a total of 20 teams. Fans can watch the Overwatch World Cup remaining qualifiers Sept. 14-16 and Sept. 21-23. The Blizzcon Playoffs start Nov. 2 in Anaheim.
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Featured Image Courtesy of Robert Paul and Blizzard
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