Video Credit: Overwatch League
With the regular season over and the quarterfinals of playoffs starting, the Overwatch League needed an MVP. And so on July 11th, New York Excelsior support player Bang “JJoNak” Sung-hyeon was named the Overwatch League’s first ever MVP, a choice that didn’t surprise many.
Throughout the multiple stages in the regular season, JJoNak had absolutely shifted the meta, redefining what it means to be a support player with his insane Zenyatta play. He was extremely accurate with his orb attacks, leading the league in hero damage per 10 mins with 6881 hero damage done every 10 mins. Not only that, JJoNak consistently lands a large number of final blows, creating an absolute monster of a player for other teams to deal with.
What makes JJoNak so incredibly special is that prior to the Overwatch League, he hadn’t played a single professional match. He came out of nowhere, but after joining New York Excelsior, has continuously proved why he’s won the MVP award. The unique way he uses Zenyatta as a DPS-support hybrid, combining both healing and DPS, is simply unparalleled, and with the playoffs now underway, we’ll be able to see more of his impressive play.
JJoNak was selected as MVP based on a mixture of fan and caster/analyst/media votes, where the fan votes had a weight of 25%, and the other caster/analyst/media votes had 75%. 2nd in voting was Los Angeles Gladiators tank Baek “Fissure” Chan-Hyung, and 3rd was Philadelphia Fusion DPS Lee “Carpe” Jae-Hyeok.
With JJoNak and New York Excelsior waiting in the semi-finals, there’ll be plenty of action to watch on July 18, when New York will play the quarterfinals winner.