OWL 2022 Power Rankings – #9 New York Excelsior
| Tags: Overwatch
| Author Joseph Shay
New York Excelsior failed to make playoffs for the first time ever in 2021. Their road to recovery is going to be difficult, but not impossible.
The Excelsior dropped the ball last year. With a completely capable roster, they failed to stand at the top of the Eastern Division. With a 7-9 record, they missed play-ins by a map difference of 4 behind the Hangzhou Spark. While they looked rough around the edges all season, they never looked hopeless. They even took wins against the to-be Champions, the Shanghai Dragons. Now, with their hero Seonghyun “JjoNak” Bang gone, will New York somehow be able to perform better than before?
New York Excelsior 2022 Roster
Tank
- Min-jae “Kellan” Kim
Like a few other teams in the league, the Excelsior are going to be relying on a rookie Tank to lead them. While Kellan was never a Contenders Champion, he did find three second place finishes in his Contenders career. He, unlike many other rookie Tanks, has experience in the in-game-leader position. Why, you ask? Well, because he's a Main Tank player. That's right. New York's only current Tank player is a Main Tank.
We've seen glimpses of the Overwatch 2 meta, and it seems to focus around hyper offense. Things like solo Off Tank and double Flex Support are common in this early meta. So why is New York opting out of having an Off Tank player? Currently, New York has only announced five of the players on their roster. A roster is required to have a minimum of six players in this season of the league. Every team has been confirmed to have met the six player standard, which means the Excelsior are hiding a player from us. It could be that this player is an Off Tank that will fill the only hole the team seems to have.
Support
- Nam-jin “Gangnamjin” Kang
- Sang-min “Myunb0ng” Seo
After a season of rookies being led by a single veteran Support, NYXL have changed their game plan. They have opted for a full veteran backline with Florida's Gangnamjin and Boston's Myunb0ng. These two experienced players will likely learn to mesh well together. There is just one oddity for this Support line. Neither player in a Main Support. The Excelsior have opted not only to pick up two Flex Supports, but not pick up a Main Support at all.
In anticipation for a possible hyper offense meta, double Flex Support makes a lot of sense. What doesn't make sense, is how they plan to pull it off when they haven't yet announced an Off Tank for their 2022 roster.
DPS
- Young-woo “Flora” Lim
- Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim
Sole remaining NYXL player Flora will be joined by Florida fan favorite Yaki on the DPS line. The two have a wide and versatile hero pool between them, which is necessary for a DPS line with no backup players. Yaki isn't known for what would be known as flashy plays, but he is known for being a consistently good or even great player of every hero he plays. Then of course there is Flora. Not only a star in New York, but in the entire league. He, unlike Yaki, is known for being a very flashy player. If he can take this mechanical skill and convert it into well calculated team plays, he will find much more success with him new teammates.
Coaches
- Dae-kuk “Kuki” Kim
- Young-woo “Undine” Son
Not only did New York take a Support and DPS from Florida, but a coach as well. Whether this is positive or not is yet to be known. Florida seemed to have a tough time adapting to changes last year after having an impressive first stage. Now, Kuki will have to prove that he does in fact know what he's doing, and just didn't have the team to do it with last year. Joining him will be Undine, a coach who made a huge impact of New York's confidence at the end of the last season, and seemed to combine their skills in all the right ways. With experienced ex-players like Kuki and Undine at the helm, Excelsior have a lot they can learn from respectable figures that they can relate to.
New York Excelsior 2022 Power Rankings
The Excelsior took a little bit from everywhere when creating this team. A synergized duo of players with their old coach. A returning NYXL veteran. A Support from their rival city Boston. To lead them all, a Main Tank from Contenders. The Excelsior must be confident in these players to scout so many different places to get them. None of them have found Championship level success of any kind, but each individual player is known to haver the ability to get there. Maybe now this is the roster they need to prove it.
Joseph is Production Director and Writer with experience in the esports field. He has coached Overwatch teams in North American and Pacific Contenders, and has been an avid esports fan for years now. Outside of esports and media, he is a Creative Writing major based out of Virginia, USA.