Update, February 16: Visa issues are set to delay the arrival of the Shanghai Dragons’ four new players.
Despite having signed four new players to help them reverse their unfortunate Overwatch League fate, the Shanghai Dragons are likely going to have to wait for their new signings to join them. The team’s manager posted to Weibo suggesting that Visa issues would prevent the players from participating in the first few weeks of stage two of the competition.
Overwatch’s Chinese New Year event returns this week.
The team’s manager, Van, posted to social media site Weibo, saying that due to “visa progress,” the teams four new players are expected to arrive in the US later during the second phase, which starts next week. That’s pretty unfortunate for the Dragons, who were undoubtedly hoping that their new recruits might help them reverse their 0-10 record from phase one. If they don’t arrive for the first few weeks, the team will be faced with another mountain to climb to qualify for playoffs.
Athletic visas to the United States are difficult to get hold of, and as a result it’s not just Shanghai who could be having problems: Florida Mayhem’s two new South Korean players come from same country as three of Shanghai Dragons’ new recruits (South Korea), and as a result could also face visa problems.
Update, February 14:Geguri has joined Shanghai Dragons.
The Shanghai Dragons have officially announced their four new Overwatch League signings, including Kim ‘Geguri’ Seyeon, who will become the League’s first female player.
The team tweeted earlier today to confirm that they have signed four new players to their roster. Geguri, who rose to prominence as a Zarya main, will be joined by fellow South Korean players Lee ‘Fearless’ Euiseok and Chon ‘Ado’ Gihyeon, as well as Chinese player He ‘Sky’ Junjian. The four cover the roles of offtank, flex/support, tank, and DPS, respectively.
Whether the four new players will be enough to overturn Shanghai’s fortunes is yet to be seen, but it can hardly get worse – the Dragons went 0-10 in stage one of the League, and have some significant work to do to qualify for play-offs. Stage two of the Overwatch League begins next week.
Update, February 7:Geguri has reportedly set to join Shanghai Dragons.
Reports say that Geguri will join Chinese Overwatch League team Shanghai Dragons. An article fromESPNsays that Geguri will be one of four new players joining the ailing team.
Geguri, who previously played for ROX Orcas, will be joined by Element Mystic’s captain, Fearless, and MVP Space’s flex, Ado. The three South Korean players will also be joined by an unknown Chinese player.
Shanghai Dragons have struggled throughout the first season of the Overwatch League. They have currently won only four of the 33 rounds they’ve played, resulting in a match record of 0-8. Their poor form resulted in the issuing of a public apology, but it’s hoped that the new players will help the team find some form ahead of their matches against Dallas Fuel and Los Angeles Valiant.
Original story, February 5:Geguri, the Overwatch Zarya main who was so goodshe was once accused of cheating, has joined the Overwatch League. She is the first female player to join the League.
This Reddit thread links to a short Twitch clip in which Geguri speaks in her native Korean, reportedly saying “Regarding teams, just know that I’m going to a foreign team. I got many offers.” Geguri herself does not reveal which team she will be joining.
The assumption, however, seems to be that Geguri will join New York Excelsior, which seems very plausible. As one redditor points out in the comments, while Geguri follows every Overwatch team apart from Seoul Dynasty (who aren’t a foreign team) on Twitter, NYXL was the first she followed. Geguri herself is followed Excelsior’s head of player personnel, the head analyst, and two of the team’s players.
Excelsior’s players are all Korean, meaning Geguri should be able to integrate into the team quickly, and they also have space on their roster for an off-tank, so Geguri’s Zarya could fit in nicely.
Given that the Overwatch League is well underway by now, it’s unlikely that Geguri will see first-team action in the short term. Speculation on Reddit seems to suggest that she’ll join New York’s academy team, and potentially make her way to the first team at a later date.