LOS ANGELES -- We're one week into the 2019 Overwatch League season -- anything can still happen. The week before the season kicked off, all 20 of the league's franchises gathered inside Blizzard Arena to conduct media day. While it will be months until we find out if the London Spitfire can defend the crown they won in Brooklyn, New York, last summer, each team had its own ideas on which teams and players would make their mark in the second season.
ESPN asked a slew of teams and players the same three questions to see if any prevailing answers would emerge. Who is each team's (and player's) greatest rival? Which expansion team looks the strongest to contend with the likes of London and New York Excelsior? And speaking of the NYXL, which incoming player has the best chance to have a Bang "JJoNak" Sung-hyeon-like impact in their rookie season?
Which of the eight new expansion teams -- Chengdu Hunters, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Vancouver Titans, Toronto Defiant, Washington Justice, Atlanta Reign and Paris Eternal -- is the strongest coming into Overwatch League Season 2? If you're an expansion team, you cannot say yourself.
Starting off with possibly the hottest question on media day -- about the expansion teams -- there were two clear front-runners when talking to most of the players, coaches and managers. Although China didn't pick up a single match victory in 2018, many believed that the Hangzhou Spark, in their colorful pink and baby blue garb, will be a contender straight away. Aside from the Spark, the clear No. 2 team was the Vancouver Titans, which is composed of the previous RunAway squad roster that won the South Korean Contenders tournament only a few short months ago.
"iDK on [the Spark] is really good, and overall their team is really strong when we scrim them." -- JJoNak, NYXL
"Of the new expansion teams we've scrimmed, I think Hangzhou is pretty strong. Based on our experiences with them, they seem pretty decently strong. Vancouver also -- we haven't scrimmed them yet, but they're probably going to be pretty good too." -- Hong "Gesture" Jae-hee, London Spitfire
"It's hard to pick the strongest, but I think the Spark is most disciplined." -- Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty, Houston Outlaws
"If the meta is going to be GOATS-dominated and there are very chokey maps that are hard to play DPS comps, I think Paris can be one of the best because they really are great at GOATS comp, specifically." -- Jacob "Jake" Lyon, Houston Outlaws
"I think Spark can be one of the best. Their players seem good at adapting and are just good players in general." -- Dante "Danteh" Cruz, Houston Outlaws
"Vancouver." -- Park "Neko" Se-hyeon, Toronto Defiant
"Paris!" -- Choi "Asher" Joon-seong, Toronto Defiant
"I agree with Neko about Vancouver. Whenever a team has been together for an amount of time, you can never ignore time together. I definitely give it up to Vancouver." -- Lee "Bishop" Beom-joon, Toronto Defiant
"[The Spark] are the strongest out of all the teams we scrimmed and they're really good at GOATS." -- Park "Saebyeolbe" Jong-ryeol, NYXL
"I [pick] Vancouver. They're built from the Korean Contenders team champion." -- Guan "Garry" Li, Chengdu Hunters
"Hangzhou, because their full roster is consistent." -- Ma "LateYoung" Tianbin, Chengdu Hunters
"Hangzhou. I dunno -- they're just good. They're just good." -- Jay "sinatraa" Won, San Francisco Shock
"This is my opinion and I'll answer differently. Chengdu -- they're rated so low, but their style is really different, so [the bottom of the new teams] when they face with Chengdu, they're going to lose." -- Park "Crusty" Da-hee, San Francisco Shock
"I think it's Vancouver because they [as RunAway] beat the previous team I was on." -- Jin "YOUNGJIN" Yong-jin, Shanghai Dragons
"I think Vancouver will be the best team. They were the champion of Contenders and didn't change any players, so their synergy will be the best." -- Ou "Eileen" Yiliang, Guangzhou Charge
"We feel like all the expansion teams are really strong, but because we've played with Vancouver quite a bit, I guess that would be the front-runner." -- Xu "guxue" Qiulin
"Vancouver is the strongest of the expansion teams. As everyone knows, they all moved from the same [Contenders team] RunAaway to the Vancouver Titans and they're very good and very skilled at using the GOATS composition that primarily people think [teams] will be running." -- Kim "Chara" Jung-yeon, Guangzhou Charge
"I think you already know it, but all of us like the Spark. They're doing a lot of experimentation and are really good at it. Plus, they already picked really good players overall. I think they'll come in with a strong mindset." -- Julien "daemoN" Ducros, Paris Eternal
"Hangzhou Spark." -- Terence "SoOn" Tarlier and George "ShaDowBurn" Gushcha, Paris Eternal
"The only real information we have about that is from scrims, and I don't think scrims are a good example of skill to stage. I think all the teams are pretty strong, and we have to see how they perform onstage." -- Damon "Apply" Conti, Florida Mayhem
"It's hard to say, but I think some candidates are Hangzhou ... yeah, probably them." -- Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis
"[I pick] Atlanta because they have a strong DPS line." -- Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon, Shanghai Dragons
"Vancouver. They've played together as a team for a while now, and they've shown it on the stage. And since the meta is GOATS, I think the meta favors towards Vancouver." -- Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo, San Francisco Shock
Of all the rookies coming into the second season of Overwatch League, which do you believe has the best chance to pull a "JJoNak" and break through as one of the best players in the league? If you're a rookie, you can say yourself.
In a category in which players could pick themselves or their teammates, many did just that. Overall, the most mentioned players were the likes of Guxue of the Hangzhou Spark, Jang "Decay" Gui-un of the Los Angeles Gladiators, and Lee "Happy" Jung-woo of the Guangzhou Charge.
"I think it will be Diem of the Shanghai Dragons. We were teammates on [Lucky Future Zenith] and I know how good and how much passion he has" -- Guan "Garry" Li, Chengdu Hunters
"Dafran or Viol2t." -- sinatraa, San Francisco Shock
"I have a lot of faith in Happy to play really well. I think he is so mechanically gifted and he's really excited to play. That's the kind of player you want." -- Rawkus, Houston Outlaws
"I like Happy a lot, but to not to pick the same [as Rawkus] I'd say rOar. He has really, really impressed me. He is a super good player, a super smart player. His communication is good, too, from when I play with him on ladder. I'm excited to see rOar play." -- Jake, Houston Outlaws
"I was thinking Decay or Happy. I think it's the easiest to shine on DPS, because even if your team is struggling a bit, you can pull through." -- Danteh, Houston Outlaws
"Apply. Apply!" -- Apply, Mineral, Ha "Sayaplayer" Jung-woo and Koo "Xepher" Jae-mo, Florida Mayhem
"I'm going to try and be the JJoNak." -- Guxue, Hangzhou Spark
"I picked Shu from my team. I see potential that he can be the second JJoNak, not only because he is mechanically skilled but because he has very good aim. He has very good aim and playing Ana just like JJoNak. He could be the second coming of JJoNak, but I'd rather him become the first Shu." -- Chara, Guangzhou Charge
"I think it'll be Guxue from the Spark because he did really well at the World Cup and I'm really looking towards his performance." -- Eileen, Guangzhou Charge
"I pick myself." -- YOUNGJIN, Shanghai Dragons
"Maybe ... maybeeeeee Viol2t." -- Striker, San Francisco Shock
"Krillin. He's so good." -- Gesture, London Spitfire
"I think it'll be Guxue from Hangzhou. We played together in the World Cup." -- Ma "LateYoung" Tianbin, Chengdu Hunters
"Nene will be the new JJoNak. I was really surprised at first at how good he was. He's a really good player." -- JJoNak
"Nene was a good player in XL2 and we were also together in LW, and he was always a good player. I expect him to be great again this season." -- Saebyeolbe
Which team do you consider your No. 1 rival going into 2019?
While a lot of players took the diplomatic approach of saying everyone was their rival in 2019, there were a couple who took their shot and pointed at a team they want to take down in the coming year.
"Philadelphia Fusion, because they kept us out of the finals." -- JJoNak and Saebyeolbe
"[We think it's] Vancouver." -- Geguri and YOUNGJIN, Shanghai Dragons
"I pick the Shanghai Dragons, because when I was in my previous team, I got my ass whooped by a couple of the players that are on the Shanghai team right now. So I want revenge." -- Chara, Guangzhou Charge
"[Los Angeles] Valiant for me, because I have friends on that team and I want to beat them." -- sinatraa, San Francisco Shock
"Chengdu. Chengdu is our first match, so I want to beat them." -- Eileen, Guangzhou Charge
"I guess there are two ways of looking at it. For one, it could be Fusion because we played against them in the final. On the other hand, if you look at regions, I guess Paris because they're also from Europe might be our rivals." -- Gesture, London Spitfire
"Boston." -- Striker, San Francisco Shock