The Toronto Defiant recently released four players and resigned RoKy. Now, not only do they get rid of a player who wasn’t likely to play in 2020 anyways, but their new coach will make some big changes to this roster, and soon. The Toronto Defiant have released Gyeong-mu “Yakpung” Jo and signed head coach Félix “Féfé” Münch.
We want to thank @yakpung for being our shield throughout our inaugural season. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the team and our fans. Thank you for being part of our family Kyeongmu and we wish you nothing but the best. pic.twitter.com/exMAg0Fh0A
— Toronto Defiant 🖤 #RiseTogether (@TorontoDefiant) October 16, 2019
The last domino for the Toronto Defiant
With the amount of releases coming out of the Defiant roster, Yakpung’s released seemed inevitable. He was their backup tank as soon as another main tank arrived and only got playing time due to team inconsistency at the end of the season. While he did improve his play, it seemed like the Defiant were trying to build their next-season roster around their English-speaking DPS duo. It was unfortunate to see him thrust into such an important role, but he did his best and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the Overwatch League in the future.
A new coach, a new team
With the release of Yakpung, that leaves the Defiant with no tanks on their roster, along with only one full-time support player. That supported the idea that their new core would be primarily English-speaking. But with their new hire for head coach, this confirms it. The Defiant have signed Féfé, the former head coach of the Paris Eternal. The benefit of this coaching hire is the pedigree of his time in Contenders. While he was with European Contenders team Eagle Gaming, they dominated the league. However, recently his work hasn’t been great. The Eternal were a middle-of-the-pack team, better than the Defiant but not by much. Recency bias is a thing, though. We’ll have to pause judgement on Féfé until he signs the rest of the Defiant’s roster and see how he performs.
Please join us in welcoming Felix "Féfé" Munch as Defiant's new Head Coach! @felxgg we're excited for you to bring your leadership to our team and look forward to your guidance. We can’t wait to see what you and @jaeSW have planned for the #OWL2020 season. #RiseTogether pic.twitter.com/FOyEJ6Af8K
— Toronto Defiant 🖤 #RiseTogether (@TorontoDefiant) October 16, 2019
Is 2020 going to be better than 2019?
With both of these signings, is the 2020 Toronto Defiant squad going to be mainly English-speaking? It seems so, with most of their Korean players moving off the roster. They wanted to go into their first season with a competitive roster, and it just didn’t work. This is their second shot, and admirable as it may be to go more English, they need it to work out. Their poor finish last year left a sour taste in their fans’ mouths. They need to build a lot of trust to win their respect back. But with their new Canadian player Liam “Mangachu” Campbell, it seems they’re starting off on the right foot. Adding Andreas “Logix” Berghmans to his side made the DPS solid. Now its time to prove it.
