Guangzhou Charge: 3 Things to Watch for in 2020

The Guangzhou Charge had an inaugural season to be proud of. They started off shaky but made an impressive run toward the end of the 2019. The young team finished 9th in the overall season standings. The Charge also had a solid off-season and look like they’re ready to take on the world. Which is exactly what they’ll have to do, as they’ll be traveling around the globe due to the new Homestand format. Fans have a few things to look out for as they follow the Guangzhou team throughout 2020.

Flex Tank Rio

Courtesy of @GZCharge on Twitter

Guangzhou’s main tank is a reliable staple among the team. Seungpyo “Rio” Oh has never been the flashy play-maker type, unlike his off-tank counterpart from last year, Hongjun “HOTBA” Choi. Instead, Rio’s play is consistent and adequate. He’s not necessarily a star tank within the League, but he gets the job done. The Charge have not signed a backup main tank, so the pressure is on Rio to continue to produce satisfactory results.

Rio’s tank style could be described as jack of all trades, master of none. Many tank players have one signature hero that they excel with. Su-min “SADO” Kim’s Winston, Joona “Fragi” Laine’s Reinhardt and Ding “Ameng” Menghan’s Wrecking Ball, for example. Rio seems to be comfortable playing the field of main tank heroes. Last year, he was able to comfortably switch between tanks and perform with efficiency. With Hero Pools incoming, this will be an invaluable asset for the Charge. Rio has the perfect opportunity to really prove his worth this year.

Rookie Cr0ng

Pictured:Cr0ng courtesy of Liquipedia

During the off-season, the Charge lost their explosive off-tank HOTBA to the New York Excelsior. His replacement is Nam “Cr0ng” Ki-cheol. This rookie has a lot of promise and an impressive resume. In 2018, he was part of Pacific Contenders team DeToNator.KOREA. The team took the championship in Season 1 of the 2018 Pacific Contenders tournament. Unfortunately, they were disbanded soon after. More recently, Cr0ng played for Contenders team O2 Blast. Though the team didn’t win it all, they came in the Top Four throughout 2019 Contenders. 

Of course, there’s always a question mark for rookies when joining the Overwatch League. They may have been stars among Contenders, but the League is on a whole other playing field. Fans will want to keep an eye on Cr0ng’s performance this season. Will he be able to fill HOTBA’s shoes and help Guangzhou rise to the top?

Battle of the Main Supports

The Charge has an interesting situation when it comes to main support players. They picked up Alberto “neptuNo” González Molinillo, a highly rated main support from the Philadelphia Fusion. Jungyeon “Chara” Kim is capable, but arguably not as skilled as neptuNo. However, Chara does have pre-existing synergy with Jinseo “Shu” Kim and the rest of the Charge core. Chara was a part of the team’s success last year, which cannot be discounted.

That said, if neptuNo can slot in well with the team, he might be the better main support to put in the starting roster. Will he be able to gel with his teammates and earn that starting spot? At the very least, he’s sure to be used situationally. If a Mercy is needed, neptuNo will be the player to call on.

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