TORONTO -- Though it was a chilly afternoon, the line for the reveal party of Toronto's Overwatch League team began forming over half an hour before the start time, stretching down the block. The event was held at the historic Berkeley Church, a popular venue in downtown Toronto that most people born and raised in the city were familiar with.
"Oh yeah," my friend and local fan Riley said when event staff opened the doors. "This is where I had my high school prom."
Thumping music and fog machines greeted fans as they entered Berkeley Church. Omen computers sat at the front of the room as people began to queue up and play Widowmaker 1v1s. For just over an hour, hundreds of fans clad in Overwatch League jerseys, hats and scarves chatted and milled around, waiting for the brand reveal to begin. When the lights finally dimmed, the crowd's excitement became palpable, quickly rising until the room was buzzing with energy.
This energy reached a fever pitch -- thunderous applause and cheers broke out, and event staff unfurled banners that dropped from the second floor, each emblazoned with their name and logo: Toronto Defiant.
Of the nine North American teams that competed during the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, none represented a Canadian city. The league sought to rectify this in Season 2 by adding two Canadian expansion teams based in Toronto and Vancouver.
Overwatch League executives had been eyeing Toronto as a viable market for a long time, and the strength of the local fanbase was reflected in the reveal party's turnout. 350 tickets were made available online a week prior to the event, and within 14 minutes, they had all been claimed.
Though there wasn't any roster news at the event, OverActive Media CEO Chris Overholt confirmed that a team has already been formed, and that he's determined to run it in a way that will set it apart from others.
"We've been in South Korea for a couple of months running our own bootcamp and identifying our roster and player strategies," he said. "Mostly, we're going to be running a very professional organization from top to bottom, whether it's our team operations or the way we market our brands and franchises. Overwatch is our singular focus."
The overwhelming support shown by the Toronto community despite the minimal information given was a humbling experience for Overholt, who claims he is determined to give back as much as he can.
"We want to run a team that is authentic to its fans and honors their support every day," he said. "We want to be professional, we want to build an emotional connection with our fans that will endure for years and years to come -- and we want to win. I'm not going to make any bold predictions, but my confidence in our staff is real high, and I think we've given them the resources to field a competitive team."
The members of Toronto Defiant staff present at the event were General Manager Jaesun "Jae" Won and Head Coach Beoumjun "Bishop" Lee. The two of them answered questions from the audience for a short time after the reveal, shrouded in artificial fog and bright red lighting, before stepping off the stage to make way for an upcoming Widowmaker 1v1 competition.
When asked about his goal for the Toronto Defiant, Jae replied, "Our long-term goal is to win the Season 2 Championship, but the short-term goal is to make sure the team is completely ready when the season starts. They're practicing very hard, and we're hoping to create a very competitive team from scratch."
Bishop has been part of the league before, having served as Head Coach to the London Spitfire in the beginning of Season 1. He led them to a stage victory before departing due to personal issues. As a new team, having someone with experience in the league at the helm will be invaluable for the Toronto Defiant.
"I think the experience that I had with London Spitfire, having a roster full of individuals that all had more than enough talent to be main roster players in the league -- having to orchestrate that team gave me a lot of experience in how to make players synergize with each other," Bishop said. "This time, instead of getting a bunch of people and narrowing them down, we're looking to start with fewer people and build their synergy."
Like Overholt, Jae is grateful for the support shown by the local fans and wants to make the Defiant a team that people can be proud to cheer for. "I think the Toronto fanbase is fantastic and I'm really glad that they're so supportive of the team," he said. "Hopefully we don't disappoint them."
Torontonians are now just eagerly awaiting news on who their hometown heroes will be, but it won't be much longer -- the roster is set to be revealed on Saturday at the Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo in Toronto. Bishop is confident that the players they've chosen will be able to represent the city the way it deserves to be represented.
"The team's been scrimming day and night for a long time -- I wish the players were here tonight because the fanbase in Toronto is amazing," Bishop said. "I personally have never experienced this kind of energy coming from the community, so I want to thank all the fans who are supporting us. We'll be working hard."