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She lives in Massachusetts with her cat, Puppy, and dog, Major. She's a Zenyatta main who'd rather be playing D.Va.","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/nicole-carpenter"}]}},"raw_content":"From a computer in Brazil, Felipe \"liko\" Lebrao types out six letters: LFT OWL\u2014he\u2019s looking for a team in the Overwatch League. Liko, like many Overwatch Contenders players, is hoping to be pulled up into the big leagues: the Overwatch League. The months-long tournament series ended last month, and the off-season is in full swing. With eight new expansion teams to fill, there are a lot of organizations looking for players. Whereas the Overwatch League\u2019s inaugural season was based primarily in Burbank, California at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles, the off-season is decentralized. It creeps across the globe, spreading from PC bangs in South Korea to bedrooms in Brazil. There are no large-scale training camps, no drafts. Few trials take place offline, with both open and closed tryouts held behind computer screens, players linked up in Discord. Overwatch League\u2019s free agents are, essentially, anyone and everyone. Though some teams are holding closed tryouts open to only elite Overwatch players with professional experience, some teams, like Boston Uprising and Philadelphia Fusion, have cast a wide net\u2014essentially, to any grandmaster-ranked player in Overwatch. It\u2019s the dream that the Overwatch League has been trying to market all along: You can make it down this \u201cpath to pro.\u201d It just starts with LFT OWL. The Overwatch League\u2019s player signing window has been open since Aug. 1, but first only to players already signed to teams. From Aug. 1 to Sept. 9, teams and players were able to negotiate new contracts and begin making player trades. On the final day, the player signing period opened to Overwatch League expansion teams: Only the eight expansion teams can pull from the league\u2019s free agent pool, which includes any player dropped from their inaugural season team or any player outside the Overwatch League. On Oct. 8, all Overwatch League teams can pick up free agents. A sea of LFT OWL posts have flooded\u00a0Overwatch\u00a0community Twitter feeds\u2014so much that it\u2019s become a meme. The posts themselves are more symbolic than anything. Many players told us that it\u2019s far from a strategy to get onto an\u00a0Overwatch\u00a0League team. But it\u2019s an easy way to open up a dialogue around a player\u2019s free agency, listing key statistics, buyout\u2014or lack there-of\u2014information, and contact notes. Related: All of the Overwatch\u00a0League roster moves made so far The tweets A lot of players are looking to make their\u00a0Overwatch League debuts in season two\u2014likely hundreds of them, if we're counting\u00a0Overwatch Contenders players and beyond.\u00a0There's a lot of information to disseminate, and teams need to be efficient in trialing new players. \u201cI personally don\u2019t search through Twitter looking for people who are LFT,\u201d Philadelphia Fusion coach Elliot Hayes told Dot Esports. \u201cUsually I have a look through all the Contenders [and] unsigned teams and decide who I\u2019d like to see based off their performance in officials or players I\u2019ve seen in scrims. I also scan the ranked ladder and look to see if I can see any fresh faces. Sometimes you can find some very talented, unknown players that way.\u201d And players know this: An LFT OWL post isn\u2019t going to get them a tryout. But it\u2019s an efficient way to spread information. \u201cI ended up making LFT post for a specific reason,\u201d former Team Envy main tank player Bryan \"iShiny\" McCarthy said. \u201cA lot of teams thought that I was signed to Envy, meaning that they thought they had to talk to Envy to reach me. I made the LFT post to make it known that I am a free agent.\u201d Because iShiny is a free agent, he doesn\u2019t have a buyout, which is something that\u2019s affected his Overwatch League prospects in the past, he said. While on EnVision Esports, which is still having issues with paying thousands of dollars in player back salaries, iShiny had a major buyout\u2014six figures, he said\u2014and he didn\u2019t want that to sway potential Overwatch League teams in season two. Related: Washington, D.C.\u00a0Overwatch League team signs Janus, WizardHyeong Other players we spoke to shared this sentiment. It\u2019s worth the risk of leaving an Overwatch Contenders team to become a free agent heading into the Overwatch League\u2019s second season. For players that have true prospects in the Overwatch League, there will be no trouble in finding a new Contenders team to join, should they not make the big leagues. Martin \"Graceful\" Wongphrom, too, said he decided to leave his Contenders team, Copenhagen Flames, to ensure he\u2019s able to tryout for Overwatch League and Academy teams. The tier two scene is stagnant during the Overwatch League off-season, with rosters also in limbo. There\u2019s the risk of many squads falling apart as players are picked off by Overwatch League teams. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for anyone to really commit to a team for Contenders that might be in trials for the Overwatch League,\u201d Graceful said. IShiny agreed: \u201cContenders teams are pretty much player farms,\u201d he said. The tryouts Given the Overwatch World Cup\u2019s proximity to the Overwatch League signing period\u2014most of the group stages are right in the middle of it\u2014some players are banking on being noticed there, too. Brazil Gaming House DPS player liko thinks it\u2019s an advantage. South America is a chronically underappreciated region in Overwatch, often overlooked by Overwatch League teams, players in the area have said. But you can\u2019t ignore a team that performed so well in the Overwatch World Cup. Brazil, made up mostly of Brazil Gaming House players, placed third just after United States and Canada in an impressive showing at the Los Angeles Overwatch World Cup group stage. (The team didn\u2019t qualify for the main event, but still left an impression on fans.) \u201cThe World Cup is fresh on everyone\u2019s mind,\u201d liko said. Tryouts are tricky. They\u2019re chaotic and stressful, with some participants playing at a disadvantage already: ping. Because of the decentralized structure of the off-season, online tryouts are inevitable. That means playing on servers that aren\u2019t optimal. Brazilian players are typically working with 160 ping on North American eastern servers and 200 to 230 ping on western servers, liko said. Anything over 150 ping will produce a noticeable lagging effect on screen. The lower your ping, the better your response time. It\u2019s something that\u2019s plagued Overwatch since its inception in certain regions, like Africa. There are no Overwatch servers on the entire African continent, so players have to connect to European servers, which offer 300+ ping, according to African Overwatch players. A lack of infrastructure in certain regions makes it hard to cultivate a high-level player base. (South America got a Contenders region recently, but Africa is the only continent without its own regional Contenders tournament.) But liko said geolocation is something teams consider when offering tryouts. \u201cTeams have been really understanding, and have asked me what would be the best server to play on,\u201d liko said. \u201cBut the one tryout I had to play west, the staff was extremely understanding of my situation and spoke to me beforehand.\u201d Once a tryout is booked, whether it be by a player reaching out to a team, a team reaching out to a player, or an agent setting up a slot, players have a set amount of time to prove themselves\u2014only the most promising move on to a second tryout, but the process depends on the tryout format. Is it open or closed? \u201cAn open tryout will have a lot of people involved,\u201d former Los Angeles Valiant tank player Seb \u201cnumlocked\u201d Barton told Dot Esports. \u201cGenerally they\u2019ll invite a bunch of people, set dates for people to have two hour blocks [...], then post a schedule. Closed tryouts are generally just a lot less people and will give you more time to show yourself off.\u201d Numlocked said most teams focus on mechanics and game knowledge regarding a player\u2019s role and the meat. Being mechanically skilled is important, but it\u2019s not the most important thing in a tryout, numlocked said. \u201cThe way you react to things happening [in] the game and talking about stuff with your team is very important, too,\u201d he added. The nerves \u201cCoaches don\u2019t look too much into trial results,\u201d Fusion coach Hayes said. \u201cEven if you\u2019re losing a trial block, it\u2019s still possible to showcase yourself. Usually a player will get multiple trials to get a good assessment.\u201d Nerves are an inevitability. There\u2019s a lot on the line during an Overwatch League trial. It\u2019s the culmination of what many of these players have been working tirelessly for: a shot in the A league. \u201cIt\u2019s only normal [to feel pressure,]\u201d numlocked said. \u201cI personally don\u2019t have the same confidence I do a year ago, due to barely scrimming at all this year. Having as many tryouts as possible is good for me, to throw myself back into it and rebuild my confidence.\u201d Stress and pressure is something most players feel, players agreed. There\u2019s a lot of things he could be worrying about all day: If a player doesn\u2019t make the Overwatch League, there might not be a fully formed team to come back to for next Contenders season.\u201cYou\u2019ve got this split where some people are really looking forward to the signing period,\u201d Graceful said. \u201cBut you also have people who are worried that their team will fall apart.\u201d The Overwatch League\u2019s off-season is months-long, and it\u2019s hard to commit to a team that could see its players being plucked off by Overwatch Academy and Overwatch League teams. Everyone's fuel is running out a\u00a0 bit.Liko The fear of not making the Overwatch League is mitigated for some by the fact that there will be a Contenders team to go back to, though. Former Team Envy tank iShiny said he\u2019s confident he could get on nearly any Contenders team should he not make an Overwatch League roster. For Brazilian player liko, Overwatch League tryouts are everything. If he doesn\u2019t make it, he\u2019ll consider stepping back from Overwatch a bit. He\u2019s already reached the top of the South American Overwatch scene, and it doesn\u2019t necessarily pay, at least with real cash. \u201cThe money I make from gaming is not much even though I\u2019m on the best team in South America,\u201d liko said. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to live solely on that.\u201d Graceful echoed this: There\u2019s just not a lot of money in tier two Overwatch. Players need the security of having a salary to really focus on elite-level play, but it\u2019s not a privilege many outside of the Overwatch League are granted. Liko balances college with Overwatch, and his still been able to maintain elite play. Should he not make the Overwatch League, he said he\u2019ll likely take Overwatch a bit lighter in the next Contenders season. \u201cEveryone\u2019s fuel is running out a little bit,\u201d liko said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of anxiety,\u201d iShiny said. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of refreshing your Discord every five seconds, refreshing your Twitter and email every five seconds.\u201d There\u2019s no one Overwatch League off-season experience. Throughout the tryouts and buyouts, players are confident yet worrying, excited and stressed out. For players released from season two teams, it\u2019s a chance at redemption. For others, it\u2019s proving yourself on the game\u2019s biggest stage\u2014it\u2019s exactly the storyline Blizzard wanted when it created the Overwatch League, the idea that the \u201cpath to pro\u201d is achievable to anyone. It\u2019s something that\u2019s entirely new to sports. Being discovered out of nowhere isn\u2019t something that happens in, say, basketball. The NBA has the history that stuffs players into a very clear path to the NBA\u2014of course, not nearly everyone who wants to be in the NBA will get there, though. Scouting starts early and continues through college, where players are \u201cdiscovered.\u201d There\u2019s still uncertainty with who\u2019ll get in and who\u2019ll become a superstar, but it\u2019s not like the NBA is offering up tryouts to anyone that played ball in college. The Overwatch League doesn\u2019t have that history, but it could some day. For now, we relish in a free agency pool that extends as far as most grandmaster players: a pool that\u2019s made for a chaotic and surprising, yet hopeful, off-season.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/20180908-125452-Robert_Paul-08880.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46195"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=46195"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=46195"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=46195"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=46195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

• Rokurou