The Florida Mayhem confirm that they are sending Tim “Manneten” Bylund down to their Contenders Academy team.
He's back! @Manneten pic.twitter.com/NOMiCi604Q
— Mayhem Academy (@MayhemAcademy) October 31, 2018
Through the first season of the Overwatch League, the Florida Mayhem would struggle. They would end the inaugural year with a 7-33 record, which would be the second worst team in the league. Florida would end stage one and four with 1-9 records, never really finding much synergy between players. Additionally, the talent on the roster just could not stand up to the other teams in the league. Though some players were great individually, they just could not work together. Having a mixed roster of nationalities can do that, as Florida Mayhem would field a team made up of players from Sweden, Belgium, and Korea. The communication just isn’t what it should be, because they simply do not speak the same language.
The Florida Mayhem Solution?
It looks like the Florida Mayhem are trying to fix this problem by brute force. First, they would drop six players from their roster. The only three players they would keep from their season one team would be Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström, Jung-woo “Sayaplayer” Ha and Sung-hoon “aWesomeGuy” Kim. Afterward, they would promote two Academy players to the main roster, Hyeon-woo “HaGoPeun” Jo and Damon “Apply” Conti. Afterward, they would pick up three new Korean members in Jun-soo “Kris” Choi, Sang-bum “BQB” Lee and Seong-won “Swon” Yoon.
Clearly, the Florida Mayhem are committing to an almost full Korean roster, to mimic the likes of Toronto, London and New York. However, it is sad to see some talented players thrown to the wayside. Manneten is one of those unfortunate players, as he was one of the more consistent members of the team. Yes, Florida would have many problems, but the Swedish off tank was not one of them. It is odd, considering they would bring up Apply, an American player from their Academy team. If they are truly aiming for a full Korean roster, then Apply will have problems communicating with the team.
Pros and Cons
With the removal of most of their Swedish players, keeping TviQ and bringing up Apply may not pan out. TviQ was a bright spot on the team, but not being able to communicate with the rest of the team will be a problem. Also, the players that the Florida Mayhem has acquired are not really names that will turn heads and scare opponents. They are all coming from mid-tier Korean teams at best, and have not been showing much potential for the Overwatch League.
However, maybe with a good foundation, these players’ potential could be unlocked. At the same time, having a good Korean coach should be good for team morale. Maybe being in the Overwatch League could motivate these players to push harder. Sayaplayer and aWesomeGuy can help the new recruits acclimatize to the big leagues as well. Again, the only big question mark is how TviQ will mesh with these new players. After all, many of his Swedish teammates and brethren would be let go for them.
Hopefully, Florida can find some kind of success in the next season, although it doesn’t seem very likely.
What are your thoughts on the Florida Mayhem dropping Manneten? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more Overwatch League coverage, check us out here!
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