Overwatch League, meet your newest team to grace the stage, the Hangzhou Spark!
We are Hangzhou Spark! ✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧* pic.twitter.com/yq63oaseQw
— Hangzhou Spark (@Hangzhou_Spark) November 15, 2018
The team would tweet out its announcement earlier today, with a generic Twitter-generated “first Tweet”. Afterward, they would tweet out their branding reveal, their color scheme, and logos. The colors the Hangzhou Spark is using are pink and blue. Their logo is a pointing finger with some electricity-inspired details. Also, it seems like the team logo is based on a popular anime, Toaru Kagaku no Choudenjihou, or “A Certain Scientific Railgun”. The main character in the anime has a superpower that allows her to shoot electricity out of her hands. She frequently uses a finger-gun motion to do so.
In September, the Overwatch League would announce that they were going to add eight new expansion teams to the league. Three of the teams were to be from China, with the Guangzhou Charge and Chengdu Hunters revealing themselves earlier this month. Other teams that have announced their names are Atlanta Reign, Toronto Defiant, and Paris Eternal. This only leaves the Washington D.C. team, as well as the Vancouver Overwatch team to reveal their branding.
Community Reactions
Right now, the community is excited for the Hangzhou Spark, due to their bright color scheme. There isn’t a team in the Overwatch League with pink on their skins, so many people will be purchasing them when they are available. They would even use Reaper as a skin example, who is usually associated with darker and more moodier color schemes. Still, people are saying that they will be fans of the team, solely off their skins alone.
Additionally, fans are saying that they are officially fans of the team due to their “cutesy” nature, from the colors to the branding. The company that owns the Hangzhou Spark is called Bilibili, which is the nickname of A Certain Scientific Railgun’s main character, Mikoto Misaka. They even celebrate her birthday on their website, which functions as similar to the American website Crunchyroll. It makes sense that the Overwatch League team they own would make reference to their favorite anime character.
This also confirms another logo in a leak that would go viral this month, which revealed multiple team’s logos and color schemes. However, in the leak, the logo would be blue. Blue features in the logo, but it is the secondary color, not the primary.
Possible Roster?
Now, branding aside, we still have no information on the roster of this new team. However, there have been many rumors surrounding the lineup. One player that has been rumored to be joining the Hangzhou Spark is Xu “guxue” Qiulin, who was last seen at the Overwatch World Cup for Team China. He would get plenty of exposure to the mainstream Overwatch League community by playing for Team China. His efforts would be instrumental for China to reach the Finals of the World Cup at Blizzcon. Even though they would ultimately lose to South Korea, their efforts would be recognized by many of the Overwatch fanbase, as well as analysts and team owners.
What are your thoughts on the Hangzhou Spark, and their pink skins! Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more Overwatch League coverage, check us out here!
