The OWL 2020 offseason is in full swing, potentially having reached its apex after the 8-player minimum signing date on November 15. Over the course of the last two months, there have been a lot of exciting moves for fans of several teams to get excited about, and some other moves that some fans still aren’t over.
From player departures, some surprising signings and full identity shifts for some teams, here are the top 10 moves that have been made this offseason.
Image Courtesy of Florida Mayhem
The Mayhem made some serious cuts that set them up for a strong offseason and their pickups thus far have delivered. Both Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim and Nam-jin “Gangnamjin” Gang have experience winning in a strong franchise, something they can hopefully help bring to Florida in 2020.
Losing several players this offseason, fans were worried the Dragons wouldn’t step up to the task of replacing them. However, in the form of five new players and several new coaches, the Dragons have filled the void with some big names,
no
pun absolutely intended.
The Fuel needed change, but fans wondered how they’d be able to do it. For all intents and purposes, bringing in someone like Young-jin “Gamsu” Noh is exactly the kind of player that can change a culture and positively affect a team. Pair that with the other skilled Korean players they’ve added, and the Fuel look far improved heading into 2020.
The first of the many shocking moves the Outlaws made netted them a new coach with winning experience and an extremely versatile DPS player. This wasn’t quite the bombshell that their other deal was, but it was a big deal nonetheless and helped start their offseason off right.
We welcome @SP9RK1E_OW to our team for the 2020 season! #FiatLux pic.twitter.com/yD8baFoLRl
— Paris Eternal (@ParisEternal) October 24, 2019
Coming in, Yeong-han “Sp9rk1e” Kim was one of the league’s hottest free agents, with rumors that there would be a massive bidding war for him. But, in the end, it was the Eternal that were able to make the best package deal for the DPS phenom, getting several Korean coaches and players to compliment him. Paris was average last year, but they won’t be this year.
This was a monumental move for Lee “Carpe” Jae-Hyeok, reportedly signing a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Fusion. This would make this deal one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in league history and locks down a top-tier DPS player for the foreseeable future. This move also indicates that the Fusion intend to stay at least partially international moving forward, with the signing of Kyungbo “Alarm” Kim expected to be happening soon.
Let’s face it, Boston needed to hit the reset button. With their tumultuous 2019 season, it was finally time to pick things up and start fresh in 2020. So, while fans will miss the old iteration of the Uprising, they should be even more excited for what comes next for this team. With Vytis “Mineral” Lasaitis at Head Coach and Ilias “iLka” Kaskanetas at Assistant Coach, expect an at least partially improved season with a young, Contenders core of players.
This move, without the context of the others that came before it, may have been questionable. Now? It’s an amazing move that should surge Houston up the standings, improving their worst position from last year, off-tank. With a now partially-mixed roster, Houston should be strong in 2020.
Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
This was a landmine of a deal that will have ripple effects on the league for years to come. Joon-yeong “Profit” Park and Jae-hee “Gesture” Hong were two of the Spitfire’s top players and were big parts of why that team were the 2018 Grand Finals champions. Seeing them in the black and gold uniforms next season is going to be difficult for some, but oh so sweet for Seoul fans. There’s no doubt, Seoul will be title contenders in 2020 if they keep making moves like this.
As good as all those other moves were, this one takes the cake. Indy “SPACE” Halpern, perhaps the league’s most marketable player and the best Western off-tank, signs with his previous team’s rivals, in the same city (with a report of a very high salary to boot). This is the kind of deal fans dream of. It’s the kind of deal that gives the league a story and makes Valiant fans scream even louder when they face the Gladiators. And, outside of the narrative power, it should also prove to make the Gladiators a very good team in 2020. All in all, this deal has it all.
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Featured Image Courtesy of Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
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