The New York Excelsior kept their strong core team intact from last season and are expected to be serious contenders in 2020.
See also: #20 Boston Uprising - #19 Los Angeles Valiant - #18 London Spitfire - #17 Chengdu Hunters - #16 Dallas Fuel - #15 Washington Justice - #14 Toronto Defiant - #13 Houston Outlaws - #12 Florida Mayhem - #11 Guangzhou Charge - #10 Paris Eternal - #9 Hangzhou Spark - #8 Seoul Dynasty - #7 Philadelphia Fusion - #6 Los Angeles Gladiators #5 Vancouver Titans - #4 Shanghai Dragons - #3 Atlanta Reign
Number 2 on ESTNN’s Overwatch 2020 Power Rankings are last year’s bronze medalists from New York Excelsior. While they dominated the Atlantic Division, New York’s dreams of winning the Overwatch League were crushed by both Vancouver Titans and San Francisco Shock.
They come in the new season with almost the same roster as last year, as only three players are new to the team. While most Overwatch League teams decided to clean up their lineup, New York Excelsior focuses on keeping a strong core, with players still in the team since the very beginning, back in 2017.
The core of New York Excelsior remains the same: superstar duo Taesung “Anamo” Jung and Seonghyun “JJoNak” Bang are the team supports, team captain Jongryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park wreck the enemy lines with fellow DPS players Haeseong “Libero” Kim and Yeonkwan “Nenne” Jeong, while Donggyu “Mano” Kim takes the fire on the front line.
What’s New in 2020
You may have noticed some players are missing. One of the best McCree of the League, Do-hyeon “Pine” Kim, retires from professional play to focus on his streaming career while staying in New York Excelsior’s organization. Off-tank Tae-hong “MekO” Kim left for Houston Outlaws, and flex DPS Yeon-oh “Fl0w3R” Hwang joins RunAway.
To fill in the empty off-tank spot left by MekO, New York Excelsior can count on Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi. This former Philadelphia Fusion and Guangzhou Charge player has the experience required to perform well even under stressful conditions. Warming up the bench but learning from the best is Dong-wook “BiaNcA” Kim, who will make his first steps on the main stage after three years in Contenders.
Filling in for Taesung “Anamo” Jung and Seonghyun “JJoNak” Bang on the support line is the young Chan-hee “Mandu” Kim from O2 Blast. Despite being only 17, he already has some impressive results, ending up on the second place of Overwatch Contenders 2019 Season 1: Korea.
New York Excelsior secured one of the most promising DPS players from Contenders, Seung-Jun “WhoRU” Lee. WhoRU became famous at only 15 for his insane Genji Dragonblades, but was flagged for behavior issues in his previous teams. If WhoRU manages to put his ego aside, he has great chances of becoming Overwatch League new superstar, as he is a young player full of talents practicing with some of the best players on the League.
New York Excelsior 2020 roster:
Tanks:
- Donggyu “Mano” Kim
- Hong-joon “HOTBA” Choi
- Dong-wook “BiaNcA” Kim
Supports:
- Taesung “Anamo” Jung
- Seonghyun “JJoNak” Bang
- Chan-hee “Mandu” Kim
DPS:
- Jongryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park
- Haeseong “Libero” Kim
- Yeonkwan “Nenne” Jeong
- Seung-Jun “WhoRU” Lee