The Overwatch League’s Toronto Defiant and Boston Uprising are both going through significant personnel changes.
On the Defiant side, the team announced that their head coach Félix “Féfé” Münch is stepping down from his position and retiring from professional Overwatch altogether. Féfé explained that his decision to retire came from a combination of wanting to spend more time with his family and issues with the massive changes to the competitive side of the game.
“It is difficult enough for each of us, under these recent circumstances to be isolated from one another, but for my wife and I to be so distant from our families is an added burden. It has been 1.5 years that my wife has dedicated her life to follow me in my projects around the world. I think it is time for me to go back to France and support hers,” said Féfé.
As for the competitive changes, the Overwatch League instituted a new system called hero pools which involves different heroes being banned every week. While this change has led to historically lesser picked heroes being used more often, it also has meant that teams have less time to prepare and are constantly having to use different heroes and strategies.
“With a really small amount of time to practice between games and a lot of changes every week, it has been difficult to work on mastering some comps or having a real team identity within the game itself,” said Féfé. “Team Performance is now quickly shifting to relying on players’ ability to adapt by themselves and for them to find solutions on the go. In this framework, added to the fact that we have to work remotely, it is making coaching and strategy-making difficult for me.”
As for the Boston Uprising, they announced that they are mutually parting ways with their main support player Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy. Swimmer joined the Boston Uprising in November 2019 as a two way player and played in three matches during this Overwatch League season. He posted an explanation on his personal Twitter, saying that the decision wasn’t an easy one but that it was necessary for him.
“Today, I’ve decided to take a step back from competition in Overwatch for the time being to focus more on myself and my personal brand.” said Swimmer. “I really enjoy it, and I’m a very competitive person, but I’ve become too caught up in the idea of competing- I’ve let my life pass me by, which isn’t the happiest thing for a 19-year-old to say. Nevertheless, I’m very thankful for the opportunity that Boston has given me, and the experiences that have come from it I will never forget.”
Both the Toronto Defiant (3-5) and the Boston Uprising (1-6) are struggling this season, ranking 14th and 20th in the 20-team Overwatch League. Fittingly, the teams play each other this Friday at 9:00 PM, in what will be a test of how each team can respond to their recent departure.
