Overwatch League has its first 17-year-old Rookie of the Yr

With the change of guidelines from 2022 to 2023 permitting youthful gamers to hitch the Overwatch League, 17-year-olds are actually making their debut throughout each divisions. Whereas one had the load of the world on his younger shoulders, he was in a position to play tank and lead his group to the highest seed, incomes the Alarm Rookie of the Yr award.

Atlanta Reign tank Kim “D0NGHAK” Min-sung is the OWL 2023 Alarm Rookie of the Yr, due to his flexibility and teamwork alongside his proficient teammates to assist the group dominate the common season and win the Midseason Insanity title. This marks the primary 17-year-old award winner in OWL historical past, and it’s onerous to argue with the end result.

A bittersweet finish to D0NGHAK’s superb yr

D0NGHAK made his mark in 2023 on two key heroes, Winston and Wrecking Ball. Coordinating as a rookie alongside the skilled teammates that Atlanta Reign picked up and attempting to match their championship wishes was no straightforward feat, however D0NGHAK did simply that. 

There was a little bit of a bittersweet really feel to the award, although, because the Atlanta Reign ended up falling out of the match first, and it confirmed in how D0NGHAK apologized for his efficiency earlier within the match. It was powerful to observe how shedding two instances in a row on the worst doable time overwhelmed the participant who received his group to that prime seed within the first place. 

The group cheered each time they might, understanding how deserving he was of the award. It would take a while for the participant to get better from their early departure from Toronto, however their work over the yr didn’t go unacknowledged.

Gunba wins Coach of the Yr for OWL 2023

Simply earlier than D0NGHAK was introduced as Alarm Rookie of the Yr, Florida Mayhem coach Jordan “Gunba” Graham was revealed as Coach of the Yr for 2023. Very like the opposite main award of the day, this was properly deserved, because the Florida Mayhem ended up top-of-the-line groups throughout your entire yr regardless of not many anticipating in order the yr started.

Gunba, accepting his OWL 2023 Coach of the Year award on the Watchpoint desk.
Gunba, accepting his OWL 2023 Coach of the Yr award on the Watchpoint desk. | Picture by Michael Czar

Due to the intense flexibility of their fundamental tank Ham “SOMEONE” Jeong-wan, and the good integration of two new teammates, Sung “CH0R0NG” Yoo-min and Choi “MER1T” Tae-min, Gunba was all the time in a position to have his group adapt to their errors and cause them to nice performances each regionally and internationally. A few of these finishes embody the shock win on the Professional-Am match to start out the season and a third-place end on the Midseason Insanity.

On Day 3 of the OWL 2023 playoffs, the Mayhem have already secured their spot within the Grand Finals stage, guaranteeing a spot within the prime 4 as soon as once more. Contemplating the meta shift, Gunba as soon as once more stored his group forward of the curve.

In regards to the creator

Michael Czar

Contributing author for Dot Esports. Protecting esports information for simply over 5 years. Specializing in Overwatch, VALORANT, Name of Obligation, Teamfight Ways, and a few normal gaming content material. Washington Publish-published recreation reviewer.
Observe me on Twitter at @xtraweivy.

Author: Ronnie Neal