New York Excelsior is back to Overwatch League

While it is true that many organizations decided to close their academy lineups three or four years ago, others are still betting on it. The New York Excelsior are one of them, as they have announced the return of their academy team after being inactive for several years.

When the 2023 Overwatch League season started, that is, a few weeks ago, only one team out of all the participants had an academy team. We are talking about San Francisco Shock, for let’s remember that, thanks to its partnership with the Korean team O2 Blast, it now has its academy team.

This step, no doubt, can serve as an impetus for other OWL organizations to decide to reopen those academies that have been inactive since 2019.

New York Excelsior announces the return of its academy team

On Monday, April 17, the New York Excelsior announced the return of their academy team, which will be called the NYXL Academy. In addition, they announced the team’s lineup, which, so far, is eight players. Moreover, it was noted that NYXL Academy would play the Contenders scene and in the Calling All Heroes.

As we mentioned, the lineup of the new New York Excelsior Academy team consists of eight players:

• Chloe “Bun”
• Dax
• Keroppi
• Cameron “Kindred” Morrel
• Sheep
• Stevie “sniper” Riviera
• Veronica “Wicca” Haggerty
• wsps

Looking around, we can tell that many of the players are unknown in the scene, having spent most of their lives playing as amateurs. However, some prominent and experienced names are in the scene, such as Wicca, which won with her former team, Altiora Artemis, the Calling All Heroes Challengers Cup 2022. In addition, in January 2023, she won the Open Division with Hive.

On the other hand, we have Bun, who was also part of Altiora Artemis, along with Wicca. However, she has competed in the contender’s scene alongside names like kindred and sniper, who are also in this new NYXL Academy lineup.

Future of NYXL Academy

With the announcement of NYXL Academy, the team becomes the second organization to have its academy in the Overwatch League in this 2023 season.

Now, this lineup is created with the mission to help the growth of players and develop them in the competitive scene. Let’s remember that this new name differs from the original XL2. However, this is the same academy, with different players and the same values and objectives.

The NYXL Academy lineup will debut in the Spring Series of the North American Contenders scene from April 24 to June 10.

Header: New York Excelsior