The best Overwatch team in the world will now fly the banner of a major esports organization.
Team EnVyUs has signed Hubris, the team that won six of seven tournaments during the first phase of last year’s Overwatch closed beta. The lineup features a roster with experience in a wide variety of PC shooter titles, winning events in games like Firefall, Shootmania, Nosgoth, and more.
Overwatch is their chance to utilize skills built up over years in what promises to be a big esport title.
“I’ve personally gotten to know the team over the past month by spending my personal gaming time with them,” Mike “Hastr0” Rufail said. “This team is a unit. They’ve been playing with and against each other for many years and have some of the most experience I’ve seen for a team headed into a completely new game. We think they can uphold the EnVy tradition of being a staple on the podium.”
While Overwatch beta access has been notoriously limited so far, teams like Hubris have a track record in a variety of competition that make them an appealing addition and show that they’re not likely to drop off once more players gain access to the game.
The core of new EnVyUs squad is their two DPS players, Ronnie “Talespin” DuPree Jr. and Matt “Coolmatt69” Iorio. The pair usually play Pharah and McCree respectively as the most dangerous damage dealers in the game.
Backing them up on the tank classes will be Michael “Ras” Penna and Faraaz “Stoop” Waris. Ras remains the longest standing member of Hubris, a member of the team dating back nearly a decade to its founding as a Enemy Territory: Quake Wars team. Stoop played with the team in prior titles like Nosgoth but only served as a substitute player in Overwatch until now, competing in a handful of events like the ESL Atlantic Invitational. He replaces one of Hubris’ founding members, Tribes legend “Chump,” who apparently wasn’t working out as the team’s Reinhart.
At support will be the team’s two newest members, John “Minstrel” Fisher III and James “Esper” Southall. Esper is the only player who did not play with the team before Overwatch, a player picked up to support on Mercy.
When the team will first don their new EnVyUs digs is anyone’s guess. The Overwatch beta has been down since the start of December for the holidays. Blizzard promised a return sometime this month, but they have yet to announce an exact date. That hasn’t stopped EnVyUs and other organizations from preparing for the pending release—SK Gaming picked up an Overwatch team of their own on Monday.
For now, you can watch the new EnVyUs squad make a thrilling comeback from the lower bracket in the biggest tournament in the game so far, against rival Not Enigma (a team featuring the author of this piece).
