The Titans were the second-to-last team to announce their branding and roster. The reveal event (during a Canucks game) was very well put together and the reveal videos had a positive reaction in the community. Vancouver decided to pick up the contenders Korea 2018 season 2 champions RunAway plus Element Mystic flex support ''Rapel''. In this article we will discuss the ways and possibilities for the Vancouver Titans to win the next season of Overwatch' premier league. Also I will share my thoughts on the branding choices and we will do an in depth roster analysis.
Branding:
To start things of we will talk about the Vancouver branding reveal and why they made those choices. The Colors and name/logo is all-in-all a very logical choice for a squad located in Vancouver. The Colors as explained by the official press release: ''The Vancouver Titans colors will be blue (primary), green (secondary), and white (accents) to represent Vancouver’s greenery surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The colour shades signify a vibrant, contemporary take on the Vancouver Canucks palette, but still allow the Titans to develop their own West Coast style.'' Now I totally understand their reasoning but to be honest, I was not a fan at the start. In my opinion the green/blue combination does not work very well and it took some time to get used to it. The branding has grown on me now that we are a week after the reveal and i hope it will do so more in the future. One thing is for certain though, This team will stand out from the pack with their combinations of color and their great logo and name. I hope they will drop some cool merchandise soon too really sell their brand to me and other fans of the old RunAway.
This is what the press release says about their logo and name: ''The Titans logo features a sasquatch, a folklore figure synonymous with the Pacific Northwest, with the monogram of a ‘V’ in the nose for Vancouver, and a mountain range on the top of its head. The team name of the Titans is indicative of the traits associated with the Sasquatch–a powerful, imposing, and mythical being.'' A lot of thought and fan service to the teams region and country. The logo is very well designed and stands out, the name is something you want to cheer for as a fan and the combination of the two makes a great brand for this franchise.
Roster Analysis:
The full Titans roster going into OWL season 2:
DPS (flex): Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong
DPS (hitscan): Lee "Stitch" Chung-hee
DPS (hitscan): Lee "Hooreg" Dong-eun
FLEX (flex-dps/Zarya): Seo "SeoMinSoo" Min-soo
FLEX (off tank): Choi "JJanu" Hyeon-woo
TANK (main tank): Park "Bumper" Sang-beom
SUPPORT (flex): Lee "Twilight" Joo-seok
SUPPORT (flex): Kim "rapel" Jun-geun
SUPPORT (main): Kim "SLIME" Sung-jun
Expected starting 6:
Stitch/Haksal/JJanu/Bumper/Twilight/SLIME
Fans have waited long enough and it finally happened, the full RunAway roster is in the Overwatch League! together with ''rapel'' the Titans picked up 9 players as their starting roster for the 2019 season. I will be going through their roster roll for roll and analyse them in the hopes of sharing some of their strengths and weaknesses (if they have any) with you all.
DPS:
Their starting DPS duo might instantly be one of the strongest in the league, everyone knows them and everyone loves them but can Haksal and Stitch also perform on the biggest stage in Overwatch?... Yes, yes they can. This duo has proven for over two years and against the fiercest competition that they can hold their own. With SeoMinSoo as a flex on the bench who can play a couple of great niche picks paired with ''scrim-beast'' Hooreg as a hitscan back-up I believe these guys will do very well in the upcoming season.
Tank:
The tankline of the Titans might even be more hyped up then their DPS line-up. Bumper was widely considered as the best main tank coming out of contenders season 2 and JJanu has solidified his place as one of the rising stars in his role. Both have played together for a very long time and know each others play-style perfectly. On top of that Bumper is probably the most flexible player in all of professional Overwatch having played Off tank, main tank, main support and flex support at the highest level of play. He even was able to pull out some DPS picks from time to time. With SeoMinSoo as their go-to Zarya player the Vancouver Titans tank line-up is something to be feared by every team who oppose them.
Support:
You might think, ''this team must have an obvious weak spot.... right??'' well boi do i have news for ya, they don't. The support duo of Twilight and SLIME has hastily evolved into one of the strongest in their roll coming out of contenders. SLIME or also revered to as ''HOW DOES HE LIVE THROUGH ALL THAT?!?!'' has as the nickname reveals a very high surviveability on both Mercy and Lucio and is considered as one of the top main supports outside of OWL. He was part of the greatest Lucio round of all time, (KDP vs RunAway Contenders 2018 S2 finals game 7 Ilios Well) a must watch for everyone that loves godlike support play on both teams. Twilight is considered as an excellent Zenyatta player and both have a great Ana to fall back on. With rapel riding the bench as a back-up, who is no slouch either, this Support line is not something you would like to dive on to.
Performance in OWL Season 2:
So... after all these positive words and compliments given to the Vancouver Titans, how do I expect them to perform in the next season of the Overwatch League? Looking at their roster and their history as RunAway, I believe that this squad is able to get top 6 (direct play-offs) in the regular season. In the play-offs it's anyone's game but i would not be surprised if they go all the way to the championship. Some of the reasons for this are their proven flexibility, having played and performed at the top of Korean Overwatch during 3 different meta's. Individual skill: every single player on this team (especially on their presumed starting 6) has shown outstanding skill on a wide range of heroes and faced-off against some of the strongest opponents one could ask for in the pro-scene. Lastly the synergy that these guys have with each other in their roles and as a team, supported by and outstanding and proven coaching staff makes me believe that this team might just take it all in Overwatch League season 2.
Let us hope that the boys in blue and green adjust well to their new surroundings and not get overwhelmed by the thing that is the Overwatch League. For every fan of RunAway and the Vancouver Titans old and new.
Titans 파이팅!!
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Article by Luc:
https://twitter.com/Ryukku____
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