One of the best South Korean Overwatch Contenders teams, RunAway, will be in season two of the Overwatch League. And nobody should be surprised, considering the team’s history.
RunAway’s manager Ah “Flowervin” Lee Hyun announced that her team’s full roster was signed by an undisclosed Overwatch League team for the second season of the tournament. She used her Twitch account to livestream the announcement to over 7,000 viewers. The Overwatch community member gatamchun used her Twitter to translate a short summary of the announcement into English. There are very few details, but Flowervin talked about the buyout fees.
The Overwatch League team paid the players’ fees by the end of September, according to Flowervin, and “there was no friction or push-pull” between both parties to settle that payment. Flowervin said on stream she thinks “the salary is on the higher side” of the league. “The players are all very satisfied with the deal.”
The deal is likely between RunAway and one of the eight expansion teams confirmed for season two. These teams joined the league with the task of signing at least eight players before Dec. 1, and they got an exclusive signing window that ranged from Sep. 9 to Oct. 8. This period matches the estimate time when RunAway’s new team paid for the fees.
It is unlikely that an existing Overwatch League team signed the Korean roster before that period, considering they should have done that by Sep. 9. The team would likely have announced the players by now, like they did with other signings.
It is not clear yet if the RunAway staff were signed by this Overwatch League team as well. Flowervin has not disclosed such information, which would impact coach Kwon “YANGWON” Yang-won and her own role in the team as a manager.
RunAway were the Overwatch Contenders South Korea season two champions in August, but the team already had one of the most successful rosters in the region before that. They were runner-ups twice in the Overwatch APEX tournament in mid-2017 and reached the semifinals in the Contenders 2018 first season some months before they were season two champions.
The only hope fans can have about a reveal sooner than later is with the Toronto team. The organization has announced it will host an unveiling party on Oct. 24 that will likely be livestreamed. If RunAway were not signed by Toronto, fans will have to wait a little longer before they know which city the best Korean contenders will represent in the Overwatch League starting February 2019.
