New York Excelsior Release Janus from Overwatch League Roster

The New York Excelsior have announced the release of Song ‘Janus’ Jun-hwa from their Overwatch League roster.

Main tank was one of the only positions at which the Excelsior utilized substitutions to any great degree – the other being the DPS rotation – with Janus sharing time in Season One with Kim ‘Mano’ Dong-gyu.

While Janus is undoubtedly a skilled enough player to deserve a spot on the roster, his removal seems to suggest that the Excelsior will lean towards more consistency at the main tank position for Season Two, opting for Mano who seemed to synergize slightly better with the team.

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Considering both his talent and his experience with one of the league’s best teams, Janus is likely to be one of the highest priority targets for expansion teams building rosters, with elite-level main tanks both incredibly valuable and in relatively short supply.

The announcement comes shortly after an even more surprising change for New York, who parted ways with coach Kim ‘WizardHyeong’ Hyeong-seok. WizardHyeong has apparently already found a new team, although which it is has not yet been announced.

Perhaps the most interesting decision the Excelsior will have to make will be what to do with XL2 Academy player ‘Nenne’ , who has been one of the outstanding players in Contenders NA. The Excelsior have until September 9 to move him to the Overwatch League roster, after which expansion teams will be able to buy him out during their exclusive signing window.

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Though Nenne is one of the hottest prospects outside of the league, the Excelsior already boast one of the most dangerous DPS cores in its existing roster, with superstar Tracer Park ‘Saebyeolbe’ Jong-ryeol, flex DPS extraordinaire Kim ‘Libero’ Hae-seong, and one of the most explosive hitscan specialists in the world in Kim ‘Pine’ Do-hyeon.

In addition to Nenne, XL2 also features Hwang ‘Nanohana’ Yeon-oh, who was originally signed to the main Excelsior roster but was unable to compete in Season One of the league due to be underage. Though he hasn’t been quite as spectacular in Contenders as he had been in APEX, he’ll likely be another high priority target for OWL teams if not locked up by the Excelsior.

New York was one of the most successful teams of Overwatch League season one, dominating the regular season. Though they fell short in the season playoffs, going out in the semi-finals to Philadelphia Fusion, New York will undoubtedly be a favorite once again for Season Two.