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Justin “Jayne” Conroy, former assistant coach of the Dallas Fuel and founder of Elo Hell Esports, was far more critical of the announcement, suggesting that it came about due to financial rather than game balance considerations:

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Dallas Outlaws coach Jake Lyon, Atlanta Reign tank player Blake “Gator” Scott, and Overwatch League caster Wolf Schröder all worried that the 5v5 format would mean that a whole lot of tank players are going to be unemployed.

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Others, such as former OWL player George “ShaDowBurn” Guscha and Overwatch League commentator Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez, were more optimistic about 5v5. Goldenboy hoped that a new crop of expansion teams could pick up the tank players who may be cut as a result of the new format.

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Despite the Overwatch League’s player contract rules, the 5v5 format is an especially worrying prospect for the Korean pros in the League. Most of the Overwatch League’s finest players hail from South Korea, and virtually all of them are from working-class families. Many of them have pursued esports as a way to escape poverty, and some have become the primary breadwinners of their families.

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Esports is still a precarious venture in which the whims of a company could spell the end of your career. For players in the Overwatch League, that fear just got more real.