Who will make Team Finland's Overwatch World Cup Team?

Finland is a nation with a wide variety of players in the Overwatch League, giving them a strong talent pool to draw from. In previous years, team Finland has always qualified for the top 8 but was never able to reach the top 3. This year, the team seek to re-assert the power of Scandinavian Overwatch, which has seen less success in recent years as nations such as China have risen.

Before this announcement, many believed Linkzr (of the Houston Outlaws) and Biggoose (of the Los Angeles Gladiators) to be secure slots for the team. However, as neither are trialling this year, the spots for main support and DPS are now available for more tier 2 talent. In this post, I will be constructing a 7-man roster for which I believe Team Finland could perform the best with.

For the main tank position, there are 3 candidates: Fragi, LHCloudy and Milkyman. Unfortunately, Fragi has seen no play this season, as the Philadelphia Fusion have used SADO over him this year. Consequently, we've been unable to judge his level of talent. Additionally, while we know he can play Reinhardt to a high level, his Winston was often seen as too aggressive. Alongside this, we have little footage on how he fares with Wrecking Ball. Nevertheless, pre-existing synergy with the roster (as he played for Finland last year) may benefit him in trials. LHCloudy was the starter for the Paris Eternal in stage 2 of the Overwatch League. However, he put up a less than stellar performance, boasting one of the highest death rates in the entire league (6.45 per 10 minutes). Finally, there is MilkyMan, the most recently proven of the 3 contenders. He is currently on the Team Gigantti roster, where has seen accumulated a number of titles (1st place FEL Overwatch Cup, 1st Place Overwatch Contenders 2018 Season 3 Europe). His understanding of Reinhardt in a GOATs meta is impressive, propelling his team to victory in many mirror match ups. Also, his Winston play is fairly strong, weaving around different pieces of map geometry to win team fights despite being at a disadvantage. Because of this, as much as I would love to see Fragi on stage again, I believe it is in Finland's best interests to select Milkyman for their roster.

On flex tank, the choices are RcK (Boston Uprising), Zappis (Team Gigantti) and Vestola (looking for team). While it would be nice to see what Vestola could contribute at a higher level of play, his lack of experience beyond Open Division and scrims with contenders teams makes it unlikely. Zappis is Milkyman's off-tank counterpart on Team Gigantti, assisting him in ambushes and landing surprise self-destruct eliminations. The two can carry their synergy directly over to the world cup. Although, it must be said that at points his defence matrix has been a moment too slow to nullify barrages. Then, there is RcK, a highly flexible player who is actually applying for both off tank and DPS. He's displayed proficiency on the usual D.Va, alongside Sombra, Zarya and even Genji! Because of this, I believe Finland should sign both Zappis and RcK to the 7-man roster, as RcK provides the flexibility needed for the triple DPS compositions which have recently risen to popularity in the tier 1 scene. Additionally, he fills the gap in projectile play seen in the roster's greatest talent.

Moving onto DPS, I am highly confident that Finland will pick up Taimou (Dallas Fuel) and Davin (Team Gigantti). Taimou is a player with incredible peaks, most notably with his signature Widowmaker; his incredible skill on this hero has given him the slightly unoriginal nickname "Mr Good Aim". Moreover, he's shown a tremendous Sombra as of late, letting the Fuel take the New York Excelsior to 5 maps. Other heroes in his arsenal include: McCree, Roadhog and Hanzo. Although, I'm sure he can flex onto more projectile heroes if necessary. Davin is yet another player from Team Gigantti; all these players from the same team will provide Finland with a unique advantage coming into this world cup. He possesses a strong Zarya, which comes in handy for more tank-centric compositions, along with a good Tracer and Widowmaker. As a result, I believe the line-up of RcK's Sombra, Taimou on Hanzo or Pharah and Davin on Widowmaker will form one of the strongest triple DPS set-ups in the competition. 

The final category is support, where there are five options all worth consideration. Jofi plays well on Lucio and Mercy for British Hurricane, a team which is performing decently well in European Contenders, but Masaa should be the main healer for the team due to his experience on the Atlanta Reign. In the Overwatch League, Masaa has been a bright spot on an inconsistent team, where he racks up environmental kills to finish team fights quickly (before any ultimates are committed). Team Finland has 3 highly capable flex supports all competing for this slot: Shaz (Los Angeles Gladiators), Ripa (Los Angeles Gladiators) and Zuppeh (Team Gigantti). Fortunately, as Shaz has been starting for the Gladiators over Ripa, we can assume that Ripa will not be selected (although Ripa is definitely a talented Zenyatta). Shaz has been an incredible piece for his Overwatch League team, saving his team with perfect transcendence usage, winning duels against enemy DPS and placing discord orb on the right targets to help his team win the front-line battle. On the other hand, Zuppeh is also a worthy Zenyatta player, pumping out consistent damage to burn down shields and eliminate foes. Like many of the other players running for Team Finland, Zuppeh is part of Team Gigantti. Despite his synergy with the other players on this team, Shaz is certainly the better option. When the two faced off during the Overwatch League's inaugural season, it was clear that Shaz performed to a higher level.

With all said, this is what I believe the final 7-man roster for Team Finland should be:

Main Tank - Milky Man

Off Tank - Zappis

Flex - RcK

Main Support - Masaa

Flex Support - Shaz

DPS - Taimou

DPS - Davin

The real question for this team is whether Milkyman will be able to compete with tier 1 main tank talent, such as Guxue and Fusions. Hopefully he can live up to expectations and guide his team to the quarterfinals, if not further!