It has all but been confirmed at this point that, for Stage 4 of the OWL, there will be a 2-2-2 role lock. For those unfamiliar to what this means, this shift will prevent teams from playing three tanks and three supports, instead, forcing them to play two of each role (damage, tank, support).
This will force a drastic shift in the meta across the OWL for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs, forcing teams to adapt in a completely new way. Yet, with the teams having been aware of the coming shift for some time, they should be ready for the change. Even still, there are some teams that this will greatly benefit and others that will suffer from the change. Here are the winners and losers of the incoming 2-2-2 role lock.
The Winners
NYXL
The New York Excelsior may have slipped the OWL big wigs some money to pull this one off because they should prove to benefit greatly from the change. With arguably five of the league’s top DPS players on their team, they should be able to fill just about any role needed for a given composition. This will allow players to specialize more and give the team more set plays against their opponents who are trying their hardest to flex. Look for New York to thrive in a 2-2-2 world.
Philadelphia Fusion
Philly fans can absolutely rejoice at this move. With the underperformances of Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee and Josh “Eqo” Corona throughout the season on unfavorable roles, the powerhouse DPS dup can finally go back to dominating like they did last season. This team sits in 8th place currently, which is exactly where they ended last season at. There are more teams now and things are certainly not apples to apples but this shake-up may very well bring the Fusion in striking distance for a late-season playoff run.
Losers
Vancouver Titans
The Titans are a team that has made their name in the current meta, nearly perfecting the tank-heavy compositions of the last several months. While this team has been around long enough to have played in a non-GOATS world, it has been some time and they are notoriously slow to adapt. With a host of talented DPS players, this team will likely continue to win many games, however, it will likely be harder for them to be as dominant as they have been thus far.
Seoul Dynasty
This is a roster amidst a great change, losing their prestigious main tank, Chan-hyung “Fissure” Baek, this past week. This massive change, mixed with their lineup of 11 different players, may prove to be too many cooks in the kitchen. This team may continue to shuffle around and pull off some very unpredictable lineups after the role lock but there’s definitely a risk for them to be locked in place due to over-filling their roster.
The Court is Still Out
In the end, fans will eventually have to wait to draw their own conclusions until teams officially play a few matches in the new role lock system. Until then, look for teams to, potentially, throw in some DPS players that have been collecting dust on the bench in the next two weeks. For teams like the Shock and NYXL, this may be a great time to shake the dust off of players like Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim and Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon.
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