Image provided with the kind permission of @TonyRayUK
With the London Spitfire’s roster growing, Peter Wellman talks about this new signing and what it could mean for the team.
The London Spitfire have announced they’ve signed the Danish player Johannes ‘Shax’ Nielsen, a star Tracer and talented DPS player to the London Spitfire roster for the 2021 season.
As a veteran player, he’s been in the scene since early beta in 2016 and has played for a multitude of teams, including two appearances on the Danish team for the Overwatch World Cup.
He has a history playing alongside coach Mads ‘fischer’ Jehg, main tank Mikkel ‘Molf1g’ Djernes and main support Kristian ‘Kellex’ Keller, and now becomes another member of the teams Danish core.
Shax was recently dropped at the end of January alongside the entire Los Angeles Valiant roster, after the team cited ‘visa related issues’. The situation around that team is still very unclear and Shax is one of the few players to have been picked up elsewhere within the league.
Due to the circumstances around his dropping and this signing, he doesn’t seem to have a clear role within the team. His hero pool is very similar to league rookie and fellow DPS player William ‘SparkR’ Andersson, who is currently ineligible to play in the Overwatch League until he’s 18 years old (he’s currently 17).
However, Shax is a star Tracer, and can fit into the role of a Tracer specialist as SparkR can also play Ashe and other heroes, and fit into the current dive meta with a Tracer/Echo or Tracer/Ashe DPS line.
He also no doubt will provide a boost to team culture, as the coming year will be difficult due to Covid and playing on ping. Shax is a veteran player who trusts this roster, considering he has played with most of these players before.
This team is starting to look like a veteran squad pulled from Contenders and that can only be a boon for the future. Adding a truly stand-out player such as Shax means this team’s chances in the coming year are looking ever brighter.
In other Spitfire news, London Spitfire’s Flight School online esports camp returns this month, with pro players and coaches offering advice to gamers.
