Athletico has revamped their Overwatch Contenders squad, bringing back former coach Sebastian ‘Sindustries’ McCallum, as well as adding European players Philip ‘Watio’ Nielsen and Thomas ‘FahL’ Fahl heading into the 2020 season, sources have told Snowball.
Watio and FahL have been on teams with Sindustries in the past, with the two Danish players joining up with the coach once again after Athletico fell short of finding local support players.
Sources have told Snowball that a fracture within the team about the direction they should take in 2020 led to five players leaving the organization just a few weeks out from the seeding tournament.
Watio, formerly on Orgless and Hungry, retired in February 2019. He competed in Contenders Trials with that squad back in 2019 Season 1, coming seventh.
FahL was a DPS player but will be swapping to support to fill the gaps in the Athletico squad. He previously played on Singularity in Contenders Season 1 2018 in Europe, finishing in 9-10th.
That was close but we are able to push through to take the win on Hollywood!
— Athletico #StayHome 🏡 (@AthleticoES) June 23, 2019
Next up ➡️ Rialto#ATHWIN | #ATHOW | #ATH1337 pic.twitter.com/eVzPJ01L1x
Locally, Athletico also picked up Kurt ‘Naahmie’ Pedersen and rookie ‘BRS’ to fill out the DPS slots. Naahmie finished 3-4th in both seasons of Contenders Australia in 2019 with the Melbourne Mavericks and Ground Zero respectively. He will fill the hitscan role.
BRS is a ladder player from Australia, known for his Doomfist, Pharah, and Reaper. While he has very little competitive experience, Athletico are hopeful he can slot into the projectile DPS role and shine in his debut season.
They have also brought on offtank ‘Jkap’ to fill the void left by Solomon ‘JJJJ’ Spearitt. Jkap has experience in Open Division and Contenders Trials, but his callup to Athletico will be the first time he competes in Contenders.
Samuel ‘Paso’ Harland is the only returning member from the team’s 2019 squad. The rookie main tank made his mark on the Contenders landscape with a solid Reinhardt performance in Athletico’s upset win over Order in season two, and will be leading this roster into 2020.
Athletico will take on Ground Zero Gaming in the first round of the Contenders seeding tournament, set to begin in the coming weeks.
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