The last of the leaked players going to the Toronto team in the Overwatch League has been announced. The Toronto Defiant have signed flex tank player Andreas “Nevix” Karlsson, formerly of the San Francisco Shock.
This finally sets their roster in stone, with enough players in enough roles for a starting six-player roster. While Nevix isn’t Canadian, I’m sure Defiant fans are still excited to welcome him to their team.
An Overwatch League champion
Nevix might not be one of the most well-known players in the league, but he did play for the best team in the league last season. Not only that, but I had the nice pleasure of talking to him alongside most of the Shock before the 2019 Grand Finals. He seemed a very nice, well-spoken, and humble man who was hyped up by his teammates. While he started his career on the infamous European team Misfits, he left for Cloud9’s European team before joining the Overwatch League. Always known as a true flex, he’s played both DPS and tank at professional levels.
However, when he was signed to a Shock team that was aiming for second season glory, Nevix still impressed. Playing mainly D.Va and Roadhog, he showed his talents on stage even on a purposefully poor San Francisco team. He stuck on the roster for the second season and got some playing time towards the end of it. He was mainly on the team as a backup, but his teammates constantly praised him for how good he was. When I talked to him in an interview, he mentioned he loved picking up new heroes fast. We didn’t get to see him play at the Grand Finals, and he was released in early October.
Nevix’s time to start
This is finally Nevix’s opportunity to start on a roster again, and a well-built one, too. The Toronto Defiant have massively shifted their roster from their previous season, going from fully Korean to primarily English. Part of this is clearly to become “Canada’s Team,” but it does also have to do with their poor and disappointing performance last season.
Nevix not only brings experience but also a championship mentality. It’s easy to forget that he won the trophy and hoisted it above his head. Naysayers will say that he rode the bench, and it’s hard to argue with that, but now is his chance to prove them wrong. Alongside new teammate Adam “Beast” Denton, they could develop a good tank duo to match their new deep DPS lineup and underrated supports.
We're super excited to announce that @Nevix_OW will be joining the Defiant for the 2020 Season! Our team and staff are incredibly excited to have him complete our tank line. #RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/qW89XT3sKi
— Toronto Defiant 🖤 #RiseTogether (@TorontoDefiant) November 7, 2019
However, questions remain. Is Nevix good enough to start? Will the transition from San Francisco (and LA) to Toronto be tougher than it seems? Will he play well with his new teammates? As positive as we can be, we’ll have to wait and see. But if there’s any player who can learn from previous teams and bring a new edge to their new team, Nevix is surely one of them.
