OWL Season 2: Top 20 Teams Countdown – Washington Justice (#19)

In the 19th spot of our Top 20 Team Countdown for Season 2 of the Overwatch League is the Washington Justice.

The team is owned by Washington Esports Ventures, a company founded by serial investor and entrepreneur Mark Ein to promote Washington esports teams. Washington Justice is the first team acquired by the company, which desires to draw interest to Overwatch through various gaming tournaments and fan events. However, the roster reveals raised some doubts on the team’s budget, as the Washington Justice features both experienced players, such as Janus, and relatively unknown players that need to prove their worth.

TEAM MEMBERS

DPS

COREY “COREY” NIGRA

Corey is a former member of the Gladiators Legion, the LA Gladiators Contenders team. He is a decent hitscan, considered by many experts as the best western DPS of the League. However, he lacks experience on stage, and while he performs well on scrims, he will face better and more experienced DPS in the League.

ETHAN “STRATUS” YANKEL

A former member of NRG Esports, the academic team of San Francisco Shock, Stratus will fill-in as a sub-dps for the Washington Justice. While he is a decent projectile player, he misses experience in the League, just as Corey.

GI-HYEON “ADO” CHON

Ado is the most experienced DPS player of the Washington Justice. He joined the OWL Season 1 with the Shanghai Dragons, and even if his team finished last, without a single match won, he still had the opportunity to practice his Genji and Tracer against the best Overwatch players.

TANK

KIM “SANSAM” HYANGKI

The off-tank player was previously in the Contenders Korea with the Meta Athena. The team had very mixed results this year: they were relegated from the League in Season 1 and missed qualifying for the other two seasons. This fall, the team was in Open Division, which is the amateur league on Overwatch, with mixed results once again. He will have everything to prove in Season 2 of the Overwatch League.

JOON-HWA “JANUS” SONG

Janus is the star player of the Washington Justice. He is one of the best main tanks of the League and helped his previous team, the New York Excelsior, reach the semifinals of the Overwatch League Season 1. During his time with New York Excelsior, he worked with WizardHyeong, who is joining the Washington Justice this year as the Head Coach.

SUPPORT

RILEY “FAHZIX” TAYLOR

Fahzix is a former NRG Esports member, alongside Stratus. The academy team of the San Francisco Shock performed well last season, ending up at the 3-4th place of the Contenders NA Season 2. Fahzix is playing as a main support, and is known for his game sense and shot calling abilities.

GI-DO “GIDO” MUN

Gido is a former member of Seoul Dynasty, where he played as the backup flex support. His experience in OWL Season 1 is valuable for the Washington Justice, as only Gido, Janus, and Ado played in the League.

HYEON-WOO “HYEONU” CHO

Hyeonu played in Contenders KR with Meta Bellum, alongside Washington Justice's assistant coach, AVALLA. Like SanSam, Hyeonu does not shine by his results and will have everything to prove in this Season 2 of the Overwatch League.

Coaching Staff

Kate “Kate” Mitchell is the one behind the recruitment of the two stars of the Washington Justice, WizardHyeong and Janus, respectively former head coach and main tank of the New York Excelsior. As the Assistant General Manager, she handles player management and daily operations of the team. Before joining the Washington Justice, she was General Manager of the Overwatch Contenders team Last Night’s Leftovers, the first unsponsored team in North America to beat an Academy team.

The Head Coach of the Washington Justice is one of the most famous coaches from the Overwatch League Season 1: Hyeong-seok “WizardHyeong” Kim. Former coach of New York Excelsior, he helped bring the team to the 3-4th place of the League, creating a lot of hype around his coaching style.

To help WizardHyeong setting up team synergy and strategies, Molly “AVALLA” Kim is hired as Assistant Coach. She is the first female coach signed in the Overwatch League and had some solid results coaching the OpTic Academy team in the Contenders NA Season 1.

Shrugger, a former Team Fortress 2 pro player, is also joining Washington Justice as a coach. While he is a famous esports player, his Overwatch experience is not impressive. He played for various teams without much success and has no prior experience as an Overwatch coach.

Finally, two more coaches join the ranks of Washington Justice: Aaron and Obasill. Aaron is unknown in the competitive Overwatch scene, and Obasill has minimal experience as a coach. This leaves the Washington Justice with a total of five coaches, led by WizardHyeong. With unknown names to the board, it is yet unclear how they will work together and bring clear organization and strategies to the team.

Conclusion

The Washington Justice team is a mix of experienced and unknown players. With a large staff under the command of WizardHyeong and a lack of overall experience on stage, the Washington Justice might have a hard time coming out of Stage 1. They will face the best teams from Season 1 early on and need to have the strength to get out of there in one piece. The team will make its debut on February 15th against New York Excelsior, the former team of Janus and Wizardhyeong.

#20 is Chengdu Hunters.

Image Source: Gamers Classified