Overwatch League fans get to celebrate the holidays a bit early this year thanks to the opening of the free agent signing window, which finally kicked off on Dec. 23. Some teams, like the Boston Uprising, came out swinging as soon as possible, but its North American neighbors refused to be outdone.
The Vancouver Titans responded by announcing its acquisition of three of the Boston Uprising’s most promising former players, tank Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist and supports Kim “Faith” Hong-gyu and William “Crimzo” Hernandez. They join the Titans’ only holdover from the 2022 season, DPS Luka “Aspire” Rolovic.
Over the past two seasons, Punk was a consistent part of the often-chaotic Boston Uprising. Throughout 2022, the Uprising often played musical chairs with tanks and only found reliable success when Punk was in the starting lineup. Considering Punk is one of the few Australian representatives in competitive Overwatch as a whole, the Vancouver Titans may have just gained an entire country as a fan base.
Faith was a less-celebrated part of the Boston Uprising last season but was a stable backline presence as the season went on. Before joining Boston, he had an illustrious career in the Overwatch Contenders circuit, playing for teams like WGS Phoenix.
The same can be said for Crimzo, who was a familiar sight in the Uprising’s lineup. As one of the most veteran Western players in the league, he can provide necessary stability for the Titans’ roster.
Whether intentional or not, Vancouver is slowly acquiring some of the Boston Uprising’s best individual parts from past seasons. Earlier in the offseason, the team announced that former Uprising coach Valentin “Ascoft” Wulfman would be the 2023 Titans head coach while former Boston team manager Dennis “Barroi” Matz headed to the general manager role.
Update Dec. 23 3:43pm CT: This article has been updated to reflect the recently-announced signing of Crimzo.
