Paris Eternal Sign British Off Tank Smex

The Paris Eternal sent their fans down a rabbit hole yesterday with a playful emoji tweet that hinted at the signing of a new tank but the only real clue was a bunny emote. Fans initially started guessing that it could be Sang-beom “Bumper” Park, after his recent release from the Vancouver Titans. However, a large portion of fans seemed to think the bunny was more of a clue that the new signing was a D.Va player, as her logo is also a bunny.

A short while later Paris confirmed it was indeed a hint at an off tank and officially announced the addition of Eoghan “Smex” O’Neill today. Often criticized last season for their weaker tank line, Paris Eternal have been rebuilding since the release of both Finnbjörn “Finnsi” Jónasson and Roni “LhCloudy” Tiihonen, earlier in the off season. Smex joins returning French main tank, Benjamin “BenBest” Dieulafait, along with newly announced Korean tanks, Han-bin “Hanbin” Choi and Da-un “NoSmite” Jeong. With their tank and damage lines now rounded out, the Paris Eternal bring their total number of players to 11. The only role that currently does not seemingly have a substitute or second player is main support.

As Hanbin is ineligible to play until the third week of the season, due to his age, Paris would have been left without an off tank player. Fans speculated that Flex DPS, Nicolas “NiCOgdh” Moret, may fill that role, as he has played off tank before for several teams, including Team France. However, now with Smex on board, the Eternal shouldn’t have to shuffle any players around to an off role. 

A Rebellious Lion

Photo Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment.

Smex has been one of the core players for the 7 Lions, United Kingdom’s OWWC team, for the past three years. While they didn’t see the results they were hoping for during this year’s run, the team has been a serious contender in previous years. Part of their previous success came from Smex’s deep hero pool, being able to seamlessly switch between off tanks and DPS heroes as needed. His skill on D.Va was particularly useful during the dive meta, often times setting up impressive, game changing D.Va bombs.

Aside from OWWC, Smex has most recently been playing for Toronto Defiant’s academy team, the Montreal Rebellion. The Rebellion have struggled to find their footing, with “middle of the pack” results, but the tier 2 experience is seen to be helpful in preparing players for their transition to the Overwatch League.

While the heroes Smex is probably most adept at, D.Va and Roadhog, are not exactly considered to be the current meta, his knack for picking up heros will be a huge asset for Paris. Fans are hopeful that his synergy with fellow Londoner, Harrison “Kruise” Pond, will also be an added benefit. Aside from representing Team UK together for 3 years, the pair are also good mates.

Covert Operations

Paris Eternal have been in Seoul, South Korea for about two weeks for their preseason boot camp. As reported previously, it was unknown if the last player to be announced, NoSmite, had joined the team in Seoul yet or not. However, a source close to the team confirmed that unbeknownst to fans, both NoSmite and Smex have been covertly training alongside their new teammates. The community is now left wondering about what other surprises the Eternal may have left in store. 

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