BURBANK, Calif. -- In its lengthy inaugural offseason, the Overwatch League introduced eight expansion teams and saw an influx of Contenders players making Tier 1 lineups for the first time. In the slow crawl toward 2019, fans passed the time by creating a variety of portmanteaus for the mashed-up rosters.
There are the Hangzhou X-Seven. The Shanghai Panthera. Or the Kongdoo Dragons. Or the Shangdoo Pandragons. (OK, the last one was made up.)
But the most hotly anticipated new roster comes in the form of the Vancouver RunAway: the Contenders Korea Season 2 champions, RunAway, now under the new banner of Vancouver's Overwatch League expansion franchise.
"Everyone knows that RunAway was a great team and still is a great team," main tank Park "Bumper" Sang-beom said. "We still love RunAway, but Vancouver Titans is another team. We have the same people, the same players, but it's a different identity. We're just trying to establish that and work hard to make a name for Vancouver Titans."
In August 2018, Bumper, teammate Kim "Haksal" Hyo-jong and an emotional RunAway lineup bowed to a packed crowd at the Olympic Park K Art Hall, victorious for the first time in a domestic league or tournament. They raised their first trophy and embraced, tears flowing from players and their fans in the crowd, as Bumper enthusiastically rocked back and forth on his heels as if he wanted to jump around the stage rather than walk.
Manager Lee "Flowervin" Hyuna jumped onstage to share hugs and tears with her players. She co-founded the team with her husband, Yoon "Runner" Dae-hoon, a backup support player who is currently inactive due to fulfilling his mandatory military service.
The couple and Haksal had waded through six seasons of South Korean Overwatch, from OGN APEX Season 1 in 2016 to that Contenders final in Seoul, before earning a title. There was a sense of finality as they gathered around the trophy for their last photo session of the night. And after that defining moment, the team moved on to the Overwatch League.
Three and a half months later, all eight RunAway players joined the Vancouver Titans. Back in South Korea, the old RunAway lineup watched as a new roster made a name for itself by running through Season 3 of Contenders Korea.
"We're really happy," Bumper said. "The fact that they're on a winning streak from Season 2 into Season 3. Even after we left, they won another season. RunAway now has this image of being a formidable and strong team. If they could be placed in Overwatch League, they would be top-tier."
The stickiness and loyalty of the RunAway fanbase extends well beyond RunAway becoming one of the strongest organizations in South Korea with a certain flair for spotting talent. From the faithful and ever-growing fanbase to the pink sweatshirts with a RunAway iron-on patch in APEX to the found family atmosphere that Runner and Flowervin created, there was always something special about RunAway.
Despite a disappointing APEX Season 1 finish, they burst onto the scene in Season 2 with an unlikely run to the finals, defying the odds to become one of South Korea's best teams. Most Western fans of South Korean Overwatch from the OGN APEX days began as either Lunatic-Hai fans or RunAway fans.
"I think that one of the biggest takeaways from moving the entire RunAway roster to Titans is that we get to preserve a lot of the family dynamic," Titans coach Harsha "Harsha" Bandi said. "It's of course different without Flowervin and outside of the players' comfort zones, but they are all very familiar with each other and have fought together through numerous seasons, so they understand how to deal with adversity. I think outside of the more basic things in-game like communication, it's important that they feel comfortable while competing, and the pre-existing bonds that they have help with that."
The team won't miss out on Flowervin's famous between-map pep talks just yet; the RunAway manager is in attendance to cheer for the Vancouver Titans in Week 1. In her absence during the season, Bumper said that he's up for the challenge.
"As a leader, I think I'm going to be the one to brighten the mood and do the pep talk for the team," he said with a smile.