Coming into 2022 with a slight rebuild, the Washington Justice sneak towards the middle of the pack at #14 with something to prove.
The Washington Justice was predicted to be one of the strongest teams in the 2021 Season. Their Main Tank Tae-sung “Mag” Kim was an early prediction for the Rookie of the Year Award. Their DPS were some of the most well-known specialists on their best heroes. What wasn’t to be excited for? Well, their season was nothing short of unstable. They never found their footing and failed to make it higher than Top 8 for any given Stage, including playoffs. They were packed full of talent, but their rookies weren’t yet ready to take them to the top. So, will this year be any better for them?
Tank
- Tae-sung “Mag” Kim
- Woo-yeol “Kalios” Shin
One of the strongest Tank duos in the entire league. In any season from 2018-2021, this would be a scary sight to see. In Overwatch 2 though, this strength is wasted. Washington’s strongest line this year is their Tank line. The always reliable Mag and the underdog Kalios.
Mag was unable to do what Eui-Seok “Fearless” Lee did in 2021. He was unable to turn an unstable team into championship material. That said, his individual performance last year showed that he’s a force to be reckoned with. The coaches are well aware of his abilities and have had half a year to train him and improve on his previously existing strengths.
Kalios’ resumé is far past deceiving. He is one of the most standout Sigma players in the league and is more than competent on other Off Tank heroes. On both Boston Uprising and New York Excelsior, he was a consistently good player, though often underutilized by Boston in 2018. With Off Tanks being the primary Tank of choice in the early 5v5 meta, he will likely be Washington’s go-to at the start of the season.
Support
- Yung-hoon “Krillin” Jung
- Gi-Beom “OPENER” An
- Jun “vigilante” Kim
The Support line of the Washington Justice is the only part of the roster that comprises all new players for the team. None of the three players are renowned, other than Krillin who had a less than memorable performance with the 2019 and 2020 London Spitfire.
Krillin returns to the league with plenty to prove. He’s had decent individual performance but gave the team nothing to remember him by. Even since parting ways with London, the highlight of his Contenders stint was a 3rd place finish with T1 right before joining the Justice.
OPENER is the biggest question mark on this team. A majority of his time in Overwatch has been on Gen.A, the academy team of Seoul Dynasty’s academy team, Gen.G. With only two seasons of Contenders, and no impressive finishes to his name, one would wonder what Justice sees in him.
The best chance this Support line has at a Role Star award is vigilante. He’s a player that has experience on multiple contenders rosters over the last three years. The major problem with him, is that he won’t be eligible to play until he turns 18 on July 1st. It’s as if Washington is sacrificing the quality of their team for the first half of the season in hopes that vigilante will be the backline boost their team needs for success.
DPS
- Gui-un “Decay” Jang
- Sung-won “Assassin” Kim
- Jungwoo “Happy” Lee
With a returning DPS duo and well-known new addition, Justice fans should be excited about this part of the roster. Decay and Assassin are both players that are going to connect fans from last year, with this year’s roster. With Mag likely not being the go-to Tank player, and no recognizable Supports, Decay and Assassin are necessary for the Justice brand. Are they really the best players to have kept though?
Decay and Assassin come into this season with the same story. Last year’s instability had to do with the DPS players having “on” and “off” days. The potential of the team to win fights was dependent on how well the DPS felt they could play. It should be a huge concern to fans that this is the role in which Washington has chosen to keep two of their players.
There is a saving grace though. Brought on from the Houston Outlaws is Happy. Undoubtedly one of the biggest pieces in Houston’s unexpected success in 2021. If Happy is to take a starting role on the DPS line, this team may just have a chance. Between his Tracer one clips on enemy supports, or snappy headshots on his hitscan heroes, Happy brings more to the team than both of the two DPS reprising their roles on the roster.
Coaches
- Seungjun “Sup7eme” Han
- Min-hyung “Chilhwa” Park
- Seung-min “Tydolla” Jung
The 2021 Coaching duo will be returning with a highly valuable addition to the staff. Tydolla is an extremely reputable Coach that has been in the league since 2019. Since his debut with the Guangzhou Charge, he has won two Stage Championships. The first being with the Charge, with the other being with the LA Gladiators. The best way to describe Tydolla’s legacy thus far is to say he brings out the potential within every team. The 2020 Guangzhou Charge and 2021 LA Gladiators weren’t shoo-in teams for playoff and Stage Championship contention. Yet in his respective years with the teams, they were able to overcome higher-ranked teams to bring home Stage Championship titles. He may have had the resources at his disposal, but not all coaches can make use of what they’re given the way he has. If this team has potential in any of their new players, Tydolla will be essential in bringing it to the stage.
Washington Justice 2022 Power Rankings
There is no shortage of potential in the Washington Justice, but we’ve seen that potential squandered before. The Justice has a redemption arc to fulfill this season. With most teams rounding out successful rosters from years prior, Washington adds uncertainty to an already unstable roster. As the rankings enter the middle of the pack, placements become far more flexible. Just because this team isn’t the safest to bet on, doesn’t mean they don’t have the tools to overthrow teams with seemingly stronger rosters.