With stage two of the Overwatch League’s second season finished, teams are starting to make big changes. From small replacements to big releases, this is the midway point and a good area to switch things up. With the Los Angeles Valiant being in the bottom five in the standings, they needed to change something. But nobody expected what happened on May 10.
We’re very excited to add Fate’s veteran leadership and star talent to the Mayhem. We can’t wait to watch him #BringTheMayhem for the second half of this season and in the future.
Give him a warm welcome and drop him a follow @Fate_ow!
📰→https://t.co/7Czw3cHaZS pic.twitter.com/hT8MM0IQVi
— Florida Mayhem (@FLMayhem) May 10, 2019
The Los Angeles Valiant have traded main tank player Pan-seung “Fate” Koo to the Florida Mayhem for DPS player Johannes “Shax” Nielsen, off tank Caleb “McGravy” McGarvey, and main tank Russell “FCTFCTN” Campbell.
A valiant change
The Los Angeles Valiant came into season two expecting to be competitive. They ended the inaugural season admirably, improving steadily throughout the season. But their start to season two couldn’t have been worse, going win-less in stage one. They managed to recover a little in stage two, winning three games out of seven, but they still ended on a negative record. Playoffs were out of the question. They needed to change something for the rest of the season.
Fate wasn’t performing well in season two, much to everyone’s surprise. He showed his skill in the Korea team that won the most recent world cup, a similar meta to this one. It just seemed the chemistry and coordination wasn’t great and only got worse in the Valiant squad.
This trade gains two things for the Valiant: rising stars and English speaking players. All three of these players come from the Mayhem Academy team that tore up Contenders, getting their chance in the main league. Most importantly, both McGravy and FCTFCTN have stage experience already.
Fixing the mayhem
The Florida Mayhem were in a similar boat to the Valiant, though they were in more dire straits. They weren’t expected to do well, and most analysts were right in that expectation. But they weren’t far from being a good team – they beat the Philadelphia Fusion early on, to everyone’s surprise.
Mayhem needed an experienced Korean player to coordinate their rather disorganized team, and it seems like they got exactly what they wanted. However, it did cost them a bunch of their prospects. On the bright side, though, these players were either never going to fit into the main team or weren’t considered developed enough. Hopefully, Fate fixes their communication issues.
Who did better in the trade?
I think this trade benefits both teams heavily, but I feel Florida needed this change more than the Valiant did. Quality is always more important than quantity, and I feel that applies to this trade.
What is your take on this surprising trade? Give us your thoughts in the comments. And for all the latest news on the Overwatch League, keep an eye here on Daily Esports!
