OWL: Poko Retires

Gael “Poko” Gouzerch retires after five seasons in the Overwatch League.

After struggling to fit himself into the Overwatch League for two years, Poko shifts direction for his career.

After six years of playing competitive overwatch, I’ve decided to retire.
Thank you everybody that I’ve met during this long journey, teammates, coaches, staff, fans.
All of these memories will stay forever with me ❤️! pic.twitter.com/U3gi9MtLm8

— Poko (@poko) November 27, 2022

Contents

1 Gael “Poko” Gouzerch
2 Philadelphia Fusion
3 London Spitfire
4 Future

Gael “Poko” Gouzerch

Just like his massive D.va Bomb's, Poko goes out in a blaze of light. It feels like we've been missing him from the league for a few years now, but judging by the reaction to his retirement, he never went missing in our hearts. Even when inactive, Poko was constantly on fans' minds. In the live chat of the 2021 seasons fans would always ask if Poko was coming in. He's been a fan favorite since his first game with the Philadelphia Fusion, and the term “Poko Bomb” will forever be used to describe a high elimination D.va bomb. His impact on the league each year was more than most players' impact could be in ten years. He has not a Stage Championship, Role Star award, or League MVP, but what does it matter? The man is already deemed a champion of the people. He's more than a trophy could ever describe.

Philadelphia Fusion

Where his true All-Star level career took place. Not only was he fan favorite on the team, but in the league, His first three seasons on this team had him being just as flashy of a player as any DPS on his team or in the league. During the very first season of the league, “Poko Bomb” would be a phrase coined by the community to describe his multi-elimination D.va Bombs that he would consistently drop. It's not only his either. Any player that would get a multi-kill D.va Bomb would be said to have had a Poko Bomb, as nobody could do it as frequently as him. This kind of game sense shows why he is such a valuable asset to have on a team, not just as a player but as a teammate. He provides knowledge as wisdom that the team can build off of to increase their level of play. By the end of the first season, they were in Grand Finals of the playoffs, where they would fall to the London Spitfire just short of winning the championship, thus, starting a trend that has yet to be broken.

Poko has been a valuable piece of the Fusion's ability to make it to a championship match in stages and league playoffs, but they were also never quite able to get the job done. Poko ends a career with no titles to his name, and not for a lack of trying. The Fusion with Poko have three second place finishes in Stage Championships, and a second place finish in a League Championship. However through the years, people don't remember Poko as a player who couldn't “get the job done”, they remember him as one of the players that got them so far in the first place, even when nobody thought they could.

London Spitfire

Following a season of visa issues and no play time with the Fusion, Poko would be transferred for the first time to a new team. In 2022 he played for the London Spitfire, where regrettably, we didn't see him as much as we would have liked to. It was the team's decision to rely more heavily on Daniel “Hadi” Bleinagel. Fans would go wild in the live stream chat when Poko would be put in the lineup, always glad to see the legend. Even so, like mentioned before, Poko is a valuable player no matter where he is. His experience by this point and knowledge of the game makes him just as important to have on the team as it is to have him in the lineup.

No matter how he started or where he ended, Poko goes down as a legend in the Overwatch League.

Future

Fear not! Poko as an Overwatch player is not gone forever! He has announced that he will be moving over to a full time streamer role, presumably with the London Spitfire.