Esports squad Team EnVyUs made waves last week when they announced they would be joining the Overwatch League in Dallas, but it appears they’re not quite done dropping bombs. After a humorous teaser tweet yesterday, EnVyUs confirmed the newest member of their crew:
We are very pleased to welcome @A_Seagull to Dallas. Pending @overwatchleague approval. pic.twitter.com/DrjVK3HUJj
— Team Envy (@TeamEnVyUs) September 23, 2017
A former Team Fortress 2 sensation, Seagull burst onto the scene relatively early in Overwatch‘s lifetime, when videos of his absurd Hanzo play started making the rounds on YouTube. Now at 600,000 subscribers and almost 17 million views on Twitch, he has by far the most successful online presence and is even more of a community staple than players like aimbotcalvin, Harbleu, and Shadowburn.
Damage-dealing heroes like Hanzo, Genji, or Pharah are definitely the sexy ones to play and generate plenty of views, but few people have the raw talent and potential to outplay opponents one-on-one that Seagull does when using these characters. Esports teams quickly took notice, and in March of last year, he signed his first major Overwatch deal with Luminosity Gaming. The partnership was short-lived, however, when Luminosity suddenly dropped and replaced their entire Overwatch roster that summer.
Fortunately for Seagull, that’s when Shaquille O’Neal stepped in.
Hey @A_Seagull and your @playoverwatch boys. Time to step it up to the @NRG.gg family. We would love to have you all on board.
Come on ova— SHAQ (@SHAQ) July 24, 2016
One does not simply say no to Shaq, and one week later Seagull signed with NRG. For all their personality, however, NRG struggled in tournament and had to undergo several roster revisions. Seagull stuck around for a year, but eventually, the grind caught up with him.
“For the past year, it’s become obvious that I struggle with maintaining a balance between professional play and streaming,” Seagull wrote in his NRG resignation letter this past April. “However, in the current Overwatch pro scene, we’re in limbo while we wait for the Overwatch League to start up later in the year. I’ve been struggling to justify giving up streaming hours to play in the competitive scene during this downtime.”
It appears that, since the Overwatch League has announced its final roster of franchises and the start date for the inaugural season, Seagull is ready to enter the competitive scene again. He will be joining what figures to be one of the most competitive teams, as EnVyUs also includes phenoms like chipshajen and the controversial-yet-undeniably-gifted Taimou.
Look out for Seagull’s first matches under the EnVyUs banner when the Overwatch League kicks off its preseason on December 6.