Halo’s Holy Trinity

 

The longest off-season in Overwatch League history, finally comes to an end today as the 2022’s first game of the season between the New York Excelsior and the Los Angeles Gladiators face off in the first official league game of Overwatch 2. However, as teams attempted to position them as an early dominant force throughout the offseason, it led to a number of incredible roster changes and players moving teams. It therefore, is the perfect time to take a look at a few players I believe will be the standouts of this year.

Halo’s Holy Trinity, will showcase the players I believe are the favourites for Rookie of the year, League MVP and Comeback Player of the year, before a single game has been played. So let’s take a look at my picks.

Rookie of the year - Dong-Hyun “Proper” Kim -San Francisco Shock

While many league rookies have come into their first year with a lot of expectations, its only Chengdu Hunters DPS Xin “Leave” Huang that has more hype around him than what Proper has received this off season. Coming out of the now famous O2 Blast talent machine, which just also happened to sign a partnership deal with the Shock. Proper is a player that should be on everyone’s radar this year.

Known for his large hero pool, especially on the likes of Genji, Pharah and Tracer, plus an ability to outplay his opposition multiple times in a round. Proper may be the most exciting talent to come out of Korea in recent years and as one third of the back to back Contenders champions, joining Head Coach Dae-Hee “Crusty” Park, who has led the Shock to back to back OWL titles in 2019 & 2020. Proper should only get better as the season goes on.

League MVP Se-Hyun “Pelican” Oh - Houston Outlaws

Another player who previously played for O2 Blast in Contenders. Pelican burst onto the scene in a big way in 2021, securing the Rookie of the year honours and being the closest rival to Leave in last years MVP race, a race that may have been closer had Pelican not fallen I’ll towards the end of last season.

After propelling the Atlanta Reign to title contenders in 2021, Pelican was traded to the Houston Outlaws to play on the same team as long time friend Min-Jun “PIGGY” Shin and will look to repeat his success from Atlanta in Houston. With his signature heroes of last year, Echo and Tracer remaining largely untouched in Overwatch 2 and the shift to 5v5 allowing DPS players more aggressive freedom. Pelican has every tool to take the next step in his career.

Comeback Player Of The Year - Ki-Hyo “Xzi” Jung - Florida Mayhem 

While I was originally going to select Los Angeles Gladiator Tank Indy “Space” Halpern to bounce back to the form that saw him be considered one of the best talents in the position when he entered the league, the shock announcement of Xzi’s return, after missing the entire 2021 season due to health reasons means that this is the only choice.

Though he was known as an outstanding player in Contenders, Xzi burst onto the scene as part of the Paris Eternal that won the 2020 Summer Showdown in what is still known as one of the league most unexpected results. When he joined the Dallas Fuel in 2021, a lot was expected of him to help Dallas push for the league title. However, his future and return to OWL was uncertain after he took a break due to the worsening of his back, a problem he had for 18 months. 

Now in Floridian pink, Xzi’s ability to play hitscan hero’s such as Ashe, Cassidy and Tracer will set him up well as a focal point alongside highly rated American rookie DPS player Isiah “Hydron” Rodriguez and will certify Florida as a potential dark horse in any double hitscan DPS metas. The only potential downside here is just when Xzi joins the team and if he will start the season by playing remotely from Korea. Either way, he brings a ton of experience to this Mayhem side. 

The Overwatch League’s return on Overwatch 2 starts now and with a number of new additions and returning players, we are about to see some of the most exciting Overwatch in years.