The current season of the Overwatch League has been a strange one for the Washington Justice due to numerous changes to the team made partway into the season. Last week, General Manager Bawlynn and assistant coach Bani were the latest to depart from the Justice. This ♑was announced in a sudden implying that that their release wasn't mutual. The latest change to the Justice, however, was not a loss, but a contract extension: JJANU, originally signed to a two-week contract, has become a long term memඣber of the Washington squad.
Kicking off this series of changes to the team this season was the announcement that one of their star DPS players, Stratus, would be retiring from competitive play to create online content for the team. His star DPS counterpart, Corey, left soon after to pursue a professional VALORANT career. With only TTuba remaining, the team was required to sign a new damage dealer to even be capable of competi♐ng with a full team of six. Stitch, who had played for the Vancouver Titans and the original Runaway squad prior to now, was chosen to fill the role. His old teammate JJANU was brought in alongside him.
While their existing off-tank player, Ellivote, was already a bright spot on the team, the oppor♔tunity to sign a key member of the Titans squad that competed in last year's Overwatch League Finals took prece♐dence.
Even though JJANU has pro🍒ven that he can compete at the highest level, the Justice initially decided to test him out on a shorter contract, a new option introduced to teams in an update to the league rules announced publicly just before his signing. JJANU played well in the following match despite the Justice squad overall struggl🅰ing with team synergy—unsurprisingly given that the team's newest key contributors were signed just days prior.
The first match the Justice played with JJꦍANU as a full-time member of the team was in the opening round of the May Melee tournament against the Los Angeles Gladiators. Previous to their match-up, the Gladiators lost to a Boston team that was recently widely considered to be the worst in the league. Whether the Gladiators had a chip on their shoulder or the Justice simply has yet to fully gel, the Justice lost the match 3-0. If the Justice is going to turn their season around, however, it's likely going to be Stitch and JJANU, with championship experience across both Contenders and OWL, leading the charge.
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