One big hidden trade happened just before the stage three playoffs in the Overwatch League. It was between two middle-ranked teams in the Overwatch League, the Philadelphia Fusion and the Guangzhou Charge. Both are trying to improve for the final stage and for the final playoffs, which are fast approaching. More importantly, the Fusion have a player on their bench that fans have been begging to see on stage. Joona “Fragi” Laine was asked for so much that teams were looking into trading for him. As it turns out, the Charge were one of those teams: Fragi has been traded to the Guangzhou Charge for Finley “Kyb” Adisi. Also, the Charge have acquired Hyung-seok “Bischu” Kim for cash from the Los Angeles Gladiators.
The return of Fragi?
Fragi was a key player for the Fusion for most of the inaugural season. Unfortunately, as his favored Reinhardt dropped out of the meta, he got benched for other teammates. It didn’t help that his aggressive play style didn’t work with his team for the new meta. As the new season began and the three-tank, three-support composition was meta, fans expected to see Fragi on Reinhardt maps. Yet, he hasn’t seen one game in the league yet.
This probably has to do with his playing style, and how the Fusion nearly won the last season with their other main tank, Su-min “SADO” Kim. But fans have been dying to see him this season, and this trade might actually lead to that.
Kyb traded to the Fusion
On the surface, this trade seems weird for Kyb — from a mainly Korean roster to an extremely mixed one.
But on the plus side, the Fusion get a flexible substitute who has previous experience with their main support on the British national team. I imagine Kyb wouldn’t have many issues integrating with the Fusion team.
Bischu acquired by the Charge
Around the same time as the Fragi trade, the Charge also acquired another great player who has been benched most of this season. Bischu, much like Fragi, was key to the Gladiators’ improvement over last season. Not only was he a great off-tank, but he was fluent in both Korean and English, being a great communicator for his team.
But this season, with the acquisition of star player Gui-un “Decay” Jang and the changing meta, he didn’t get the same time on stage as last season — especially recently, with Decay taking his stage time for this meta. His skill set both in and out of the game was valuable, and the Charge noticed that. They did have to pay for it, but it might help this Charge team in the end.
Published: Jul 13, 2019 11:18 am