Few teams in the Overwatch League have transformed as many times as the Florida Mayhem has over the past few years. What started as a European powerhouse slowly morphed into a scrappy, all-Korean underdog that waffled between beating expectations and losing its path.
After a dismal 5-11 regular season record in 2021, the Mayhem is evolving into something else once again. The 2022 version of the Sunshine State’s best has brought together talented pieces from all over the world into a team that will look to find success in a stacked West Region.
Players from four separate competitive regions—North America, South Korea, Australia, and Saudi Arabia—will join together on one of the league’s most diverse rosters.
Players
Florida’s only holdover from 2021 is DPS Checkmate, who had a brief but iconic stint as the main tank for the team last year. This time around, he should be able to stick to his designated role alongside Overwatch Contenders standout Hydron and former Dallas Fuel hitscan expert Xzi. Between the three of them, every DPS hero in the game should be played to a reasonably high level.
Instead of running the “Chadmate” main tank, Florida will be relying on newcomer SOMEONE, a talented main tank from Team CC out of Contenders Korea. He’ll be joined by Aussie off-tank Adam, finally getting his redemption arc in the Overwatch League after being left out of a job and a visa by the Los Angeles Valiant in 2021.
The Mayhem’s support line is as eclectic as they come with veteran main support Anamo, formerly of the Seoul Dynasty, heading up the healers. The Sandman himself, former Guangzhou Charge support KariV, will be offering up his flex support services alongside rookie SirMajed, who has been terrorizing Contenders teams in the Europe/Middle East region for years.
This roster was picked and organized by head coach Gunba, who was partially responsible for the wacky-but-effective 2020 Los Angeles Valiant roster. Noted for his scouting abilities, if anyone can make this mix of players work, it’s likely him.
2022 outlook
On paper, the 2022 Florida Mayhem roster looks like someone’s best attempt at creating an inexpensive team in an Overwatch fantasy league. Some parts, like Anamo’s notoriously slow-paced support play coupled with the DPS squad’s playstyle, seem to objectively not fit together.
No matter how different the parts seem, though, every player on the Mayhem has something in common: hunger. From Xzi—who stepped away from the Fuel due to a medical issue and has been craving a return to competition—to veterans like KariV and Anamo trying to prove they can still party with the rookies, this band of misfits may break the top half of the West Region leaderboards powered by spite alone.
If Gunba and his management crew can fit this international puzzle together, with all of its variations in language and levels of experience, they’ll look like geniuses and will deserve the praise. All of the individual players on the Mayhem are immensely talented and are looking to prove themselves. But if they can’t work as a cohesive unit, the experiment won’t get past its theory-testing phase.
The Florida Mayhem play the Atlanta Reign on opening day, May 5, at 5pm CT.
Published: May 3, 2022 12:54 pm