Fusion University, the Philadelphia Fusion’s North American Overwatch Contenders team, may have recently been crowned the best team in the West as the Atlantic Showdown champions, but is already leaving the throne empty next season following an unprecedented move.
On Sunday, the Fusion announced that their Contenders team would be leaving the North American circuit to join Contenders Trials in South Korea. The decision for Fusion University to go abroad marks the first time an Overwatch League Academy team has changed regions. After taking four consecutive Contenders North America trophies and a recent fifth in the Atlantic Showdown crown, the Fusion University is in search of “a new challenge,” so what better place to look than the undisputed cradle of Overwatch League talent, South Korea. The Fusion University was so dominant in its region that it had been riding on an outrageously impressive 30-game win streak up until the latest season of Contenders in which it was handed its first defeat in its history by the Mayhem Academy.
One aspect about the move that has left fans uncertain is how the team will be changing up its lineup to conform to the region locking regulations in the Overwatch Contenders rulebook. To help promote the growth of local talent and make Contenders a better feeder system into the Overwatch League, as of the 2019 season, all Overwatch Contenders teams would have to operate with no more than three players on their roster being “non-residents” of the region they are competing in.
However, for Fusion University, getting into Contenders early has been its saving grace. Four out of its six members hail from South Korea with one from North America and the other being a Sweden native. As the team has been competing in past seasons of Contenders before the region lock rule, the players were “grandfathered” and were allowed to play despite a majority of their team being non-residents of North America.
For such a decorated team, such a move comes with its own set of risks as the team will have to give up its spot in the West as it joins five other teams to compete for a spot in Overwatch Contenders Korea 2019 Season 2. While nothing is ever certain, it would be safe to assume that a team of Fusion University’s caliber, who most would agree that it would be able to go head to head with a mid-tier Overwatch League team, should make quick work of the competition.
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South Korea Contenders Trials begin on June 4.