Black and red lacquered dice, skip across a green felt table under the glaring flash of neon lights, and the wide array of emotional cries from the patrons of the casino. Some cry out of joy after cashing out their newly earned jackpot. Others cry in somber disdain after losing millions at the slots. A team of six sits at their respective table, resting their elbows on the soft verdant felt. Their blue jerseys neatly pressed and folded reveal what organization they call home. In crisp white, a distinct capital “N” flashes across the boy's chest. The answer to the question is clear and it is safe to say a majority of the patrons are in envy of their accomplishments.

EnVyUs is your staple North American organization. They are consistent, powerful, yet have a mystique around them that is interesting to say the least. They have potentially scouted two of the best players to fill out their six man roster twice now. Is this some form of luck or is a dedication to scouting up and coming talent or some fraction of both?

Fortuna is the Roman goddesses of “chance, luck, and fate.” and the prayers to Fortuna seem to have been heard, loud and clear. With that said, “lady luck” has surely smiled on the last remaining western team in the OGN APEX Season 3. Team EnVyUs have always seemed to be the favorite western hopefuls who take on all of Korea. Starting in the West as a dominant force early on going on an uncontested 57-0, EnVyUs has transferred that same skill that once made them dominant before to the international stage. Mind you, the roster may look slightly different, but the core values and ideals still remain.

EnVyUs has consistently made deep playoff runs in almost every single competition they have entered in the short history of Overwatch. They consistently have remained contenders for the strongest team in their region. EnVyUs is also the only foreign team to travel to South Korea and win a premier level tournament.

Let that percolate for a moment.

The only team, ever, to go to Korea and best some of esports’ brightest minds on their home-turf.

Currently, OGN’s APEX League is by in far the most prestigious tournament in Overwatch and Team EnVyUs has a solid chance of contesting some of South Korea’s greats for another title shot. Two members of this team stand out from the crowd as not only important to the context and history of Overwatch but the narratives and storylines that follow them.

Their favor with lady luck is always in question. How many pocket aces can one team have at their discretion?

In the midst of a crazy first season of OGN’s APEX League, team EnVyUs needed someone to step in after losing long time DPS star Ronnie "Talespin" DuPree. This left the team without a sixth man. This would leave an opening for the first ace that Fortuna would grant them in the form of a bright and bubbly young boy from Thailand named “Mickie.”

Pongphop "Mickie" Rattanasangchod was scouted after the 2016 Overwatch World Cup where he and Thailand placed 9-12th. Former support player for Team EnVyUs, Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka was said to have picked him out of the crowd of applicants solely based on his overwhelmingly positive attitude and great skill.

The story of Mickie is an interesting one. EnVyUs were in dire straights after an emergency roster swap and Mickie was brought onto the team as a stand in during Season 1 of APEX. His unlikely heroic story continues where a patch change shifted the metagame, where D.va would now be very favored and this would play directly into Mickie’s hero pool. At the time he was known more for his Zarya, but his D.va would end up being fantastic as well.

This would mark the start of the Cinderella story of APEX Season 1, where EnVyUs would go on to upset Rogue, KongDoo Uncia and then demolish Afreeca Freecs Blue in the Grand Final. They then fly back to the US. to compete in MLG Las Vegas where they win convincingly. As they competed in MLG Las Vegas, technically Mickie was still a stand-in and was unsure himself, at the time, that EnVyUs wanted him to become a tenured member of the team. After both of their huge LAN wins, EnVyUs signed Mickie to the roster.

However, this is not Mickie’s first taste of a championship win. Like many Overwatch professional players, Mickie comes from a background in another first-person shooter (FPS) called Point Blank. In 2015 he and his team DEFINITE GZ-GAMING won the Point Blank International Championship. Not only did he and his five teammates split the prize purse of $50,000, but Mickie was also awarded MVP.

From the small amount of Point Blank I’ve been able to watch, It seems like Mickie was the sniper for his team,which makes sense within Overwatch because his favorite hero is Widowmaker. This also backs up the multiple accounts that members of Team EnVyUs claim that Mickie’s Widowmaker is very good. Could we possibly see Mickie transition into a DPS role in the future? It is possible, but very unlikely seeing how he’s completely content filling in wherever his team needs him.

Mickie is not the only ace in the hole that EnVyUs can rely on. It’s time to meet the newest recruit to the EnVyUs Roster; EFFECT.

Hyeon "EFFECT" Kim is the most recent addition to the EnVyUs family. His superb Tracer play has catapulted them into what looks to be an incredibly strong run moving into playoffs. He is the second ace in the EnVyUs pair.

Originally signed by Meta Athena, EFFECT could not find room on such a stable roster. Having two star DPS players already on board, he was then moved to Athena’s sister team, Meta Bellum. After leaving The Meta brand, he attempted to try out for the Lunatic-Hai squad. In a recent interview over at Inven Global, EFFECT elaborates on this time in his career [1]; “I did tryouts for Lunatic-Hai, but I wasn’t desperate enough back then. I didn’t get the opportunity to play as a key player in the previous team, so I didn’t feel very good about playing as the seventh man, thinking ‘I must play as the key player or else.’ So I guess I didn’t do my best at the tryouts.” EFFECT shortly left after being moved for personal reasons and started to reach out to a foreign audience.

Team SoloMid (TSM) immediately contacted EFFECT and he was added to the roster list. After TSM’s Overwatch team degenerated, a fellow teammate of his, Ivo "Linepro" Kolev, introduced him to EnVyUs and the rest is history. On the 27th of April EFFECT was signed to EnVyUs and the team prepared to meet their new player and start their APEX Season 3 run.

EFFECT has proven to be very effective with Tracer and has stated that he can play a myriad of different heroes including Genji, McCree, Widowmaker and Soldier 76. After the departure of Talespin earlier in Season 1 of APEX, EnVyUs has always lacked a projectile-DPS player. Fortuna has dealt EnVyUs a strong hand within EFFECT. With the ability to seemingly play both sides of the DPS coin, team EnVyUs has all the tools they need going into the second group stage of OGN APEX Season 3 and beyond.

While the sample size is still a bit small, EFFECT has shown to fit like a glove within the brotherhood of EnVyUs. His Tracer has been a consistent back-line threat and has had some strong showings thus far. EFFECT’s Tracer has garnered so much attention that a handful of frag movies have been made focused around it.

EFFECT could easily be the Mickie of Season 3. Someone who falls into EnVyUs’s lap and ends up making sweeping changes in the way the roster plays which ends up paying off. With his prowess on Tracer and Mickie piloting D.va, EnVyUs look like contenders for a second APEX title.

These pair of players are just a representation of how strong EnVyUs is as a team. Everyone on the team is incredibly good at their role and the job they perform. However, Mickie and EFFECT were risks that EnVyUs took that paid out in dividends at the end of the day. EnVyUs has either amazing luck or some of the best talent scouts in Overwatch. I tend to bet on the later.

Fortuna has gifted them another chance to obtain the prestigious APEX title, but EnVyUs lies at an impasse. The fork in the road for the team is the monstrous team’s that lay before them like sleeping wolves. At any point, one misstep could be curtains for the Western hopefuls. They could be crowned as kings once more, or they could be sent packing with nothing but a poker chip with their name on it.

With that being said, who knows what Fortuna has in her cards for Team Envyus. Will they make another deep playoff run and become Grand Finalists? Their eyes are laser focused on their next title and Season 3 of APEX may just be their next shot and their favor with lady luck is ever growing. The boys in blue will one day look back fondly on these moments, years down the timeline of Overwatch — and laugh. People truly did envy them.

On that note, I want to leave you with a simple metaphor. In television and film, the idea of an 11th-hour superpower is a writing vehicle that allows the protagonist one final gift or “superpower” during their darkest period. First, it was Mickie and now it’s possible that their final gift or superpower lies in EFFECT.  

One thing is for sure, team EnVyUs always manages to draw aces.

Joseph “Volamel” Franco has followed esports since the MLG’s of 2006. He started out primarily following Starcraft 2, Halo 3, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. He has transitioned from viewer to journalist and writes freelance primarily about Overwatch and League of Legends. If you would like to know more or follow his thoughts on esports you can follow him at @Volamel.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment, Team EnVyUs, and OGN.