With the recent change of Luminosity Gaming’s Overwatch lineup, letting go Seagull and his team, now known as MixUp^ in favour of rising European team 2sTroNk, more e-sports organisations have been making moves in securing the top unsigned Overwatch teams currently competing, reducing the amount of silly team names in the top ranks.
First up is what was just a speculation turned into truth: MixUp^ did indeed got in touch with basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal’s e-sports org: NRG. NRG will now have an Overwatch team comprise of the MixUp^ crew: Newly recruited support Dummy, second support Pookz, tanker Milo, flex master Enigma, strong hitscan and DPS player Gods, and Seagull himself.
And it all started with Shaq’s random tweet on picking the boys up to NRG. Seems odd at the time since they were still under contract with Luminosity. But it did worked.
When you lock down the best Overwatch team in the world. Welcome @A_Seagull and the @PlayOverwatch boys to @NRGgg! pic.twitter.com/k1gnel0Iod
— NRG Esports (@NRGgg) August 3, 2016
Next up is Ninjas in Pajamas (NiP). The well established Counter Strike: Global Offensive team has broaden its wings and picking up Finland-based SG-1. While mostly seen as a mid-tier team, strong against new teams but not strong enough to challenge the powerhouses, SG-1 has a hint of brilliance here and there- they managed to beat REUNITED once in an upset during one of the Gosugamers Weeklies.
The whole crew, Zappis, Hymzi, Mafu, Seita, Fragi and Kyynel, will now be part of NiP’s new venture to expand into other e-sports titles. Interestingly, their move to being signed ended them up with a sillier name than before. The official press release can be viewed here.
Last but not least, the NA equivalent of SG-1’s mid-tier, 1Shot, has also been signed by a team currently expanding from focusing on just one game. Method is known to field competitive World of Warcraft players and with the signing of 1Shot, now expands to Overwatch as well. All of 1Shot will make the transition to Method which includes Support star Psychowaffle, second support Roolf, tanker Krawnnic, and DPS players Exi and Ultimawep.
The official press release can be viewed here.
Yes, they have yet to secure a permanent sixth member yet, with stand-ins playing the sixth slot of the team.
The Heroes Have Arrived at #Method…we've signed our first Overwatch team!https://t.co/7Wk3HAYq9S pic.twitter.com/4kUr65YIyn
— Method (@Methodgg) August 3, 2016
Congratulations to all the teams being signed. This goes to show that the Overwatch e-sports scene is rapidly expanding and attracting big names to invest in the scene.