Canadians and Americans well represented on the team.
After the shocking parting-of-ways of the entire Vancouver Titans roster earlier this week, the team has announced its new acquisitions today, with a local flare on offer.
While ESPN had received reports about which players would be signed their sources only proved to be partially correct: Dalton “Dalton” Bennyhoff , Abtin “Shredlock” Shirvaniand, and Randal “Roolf” Stark from Second Wind were all signed as part of the announcement, pending league approval.
They’ll be joined by Samir “Tsuna” Ikram, Alhumaidi “KSAA” Alruwaili, and Carson “CarCar” First (who was a Second Wind player) to round out the roster. Second Wind veterans will also fill out the coaching staff, including head coach Steven “Flubby” Coronel , and Assistants Ali “Pew” Anwar and Eric “Wheats” Perez.
Much of the team is based in and from North America: In the midst of the pandemic, the last roster, composed of RunAway teammates, returned to South Korea to play, causing a series of communication challenges and resulting in matches that took place after midnight in Vancouver.
A more localized team–including British Columbia product Randal “Roolf” Stark–is less likely to be affected by playing in such a disparate time zone.
The team won’t have long to come together: Their first matches are this weekend against the Washington Justice and Florida Mayhem.
Liftoff! will be following developments of the Vancouver Titans and Toronto Defiant as we cover the OWL.