Chengdu Hunters finalise their roster for 2020 OWL
Chinese Overwatch team, Chengdu Hunters, announced they have finalized their roster ahead of 2020 Overwatch league with the signing of three new players and a shuffle in their coaching staff, which they hope will help them improve upon their less-than-impressive 12th place finish last season.
Chengdu Hunters made a Twitter post earlier this Wednesday, unveiling they have finalised their player roster and coaching staff ahead of the season 3 of Overwatch League.
As revealed, by the Chinese organization, Hunters have signed supports He "Molly" Chengzhi and Chen "Lengsa" Jingyi, as well as tank Chen "ATing" Shao-Hua, who was already rumoured to join the Hunters at the end of last year amidst the departure of Zhihao "YangXiaoLong" Zhang and Yansong "Jiqiren" Wei. Hunters also unveiled their former support Li "Garry" Guan will move to an assistant coach position for 2020 season, while Chia-Hua "Ray" Chang will be promoted from an assistant head coach to co-head coach, a position he will hold alongside former LGE.Huya head coach Wu "Dokkaebi" Xiuqing.
Besides the new arrivals and changes in the coaching staff, Chengdu Hunters also promoted Xin "Leave" Huang to the main roster. Leave was signed to the team in July 2019, but because he was at the time still 17-years-old, he was unable to compete in the OWL and instead only streamed under the Chengdu Hunters banner. That said, Leave celebrated his 18th birthday back in October, meaning he is now eligible to compete in the league and is set to join his teammates on their venture in the S3 of OWL.
Leave has previously played for Miraculous Youngsters, which was widely regarded as the best Chinese team in Overwatch history. With MY, Leave won numerous tournaments which helped him establish himself as one of the best DPS players in the world, especially on Widowmaker, McCree and Tracer, which have become his signature heroes. That said, he never before got a chance to prove his skills in the Overwatch League, meaning 2020 will be his time to shine and it seems like Hunters have high expectations for the young DPS.
"Leave is a top flex player in China. He has proven his talents in both the 2017 and in 2018 Overwatch World Cup, becoming a young player with an extremely high reputation," read the Chengdu Hunters Twitter announcement.
https://twitter.com/ChengduHunters/status/1217295971966648321
Joining Leave as another promising addition to Hunters is ATing, who will serve as an insurance policy should their main tank Ding "Ameng" Menghan underperform, or perhaps if the meta change would call for ATing to step in and show off his expertise on Reinhardt or Winston.
Last year, Chengdu Hunters fought an uphill battle throughout their maiden season in the OWL. The Chinese roster finished Stage 1 at 16th place, Stage 2 at ninth place, Stage 3 at 13th and Stage 4 at ninth. While far from impressive results, Chengdu Hunters still managed to finish the season at 12th place, meaning they secured a ticket for the playoffs Play-in stage by the skin of their teeth. Unfortunately, their playoffs venture ended as quickly as it began, as Hunters lost to Guangzhou Charge in round one, thus ended the season at 12th place.
This year, Chengdu Hunters will look to improve and make their fans proud and while hoisting the OWL trophy might still be slightly out of their reach, considering how stacked the lineup for Season 3 is, their newest additions to the roster and changes to their coaching staff, leads us to believe Hunters just might make the cut and enter the playoffs for the second time in their history.
Chengdu Hunters first match of OWL 2020 will see them clash against Shanghai Dragons. The bout is set to take place next month, on February 15, during Shanghai Dragons homestand event, which will be played at the XinYeFang Studio, Jing'an District, Shanghai.
