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Overwatch League moves: Outlaws sign Rapel, Reign acquire Sharp from Contenders

A day after being released by the Vancouver Titans, Jung-geun "Rapel" Kim was signed by the Houston Outlaws on Friday. Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Flex support player Jung-geun "Rapel" Kim, released by the Vancouver Titans on Thursday, found a new Overwatch League team on Friday.

The Houston Outlaws announced that they signed the 21-year-old South Korean, pending league approval.

The team added in its introductory tweet, "Your complimentary cowboy hat and boots are waiting for you in Texas. #AnteUp"

Outlaws general manager Matt Rodriguez tweeted, "I've only known Rapel a few weeks but I can already tell his attitude and personality will fit this team perfectly. Looking forward to 2020 more and more everyday. And no we're not done."

Rapel helped Vancouver finish with the best record in the 2019 Overwatch League regular season, 25-3. The Titans wound up losing to the San Francisco Shock in the final of the season-ending playoffs.

Prior to joining the Titans in December 2018, Rapel played for Element Mystic.

The Outlaws finished the season in 16th place at 9-19. New ownership took over in Houston on Thursday when Beasley Broadcast Group purchased the team from Immortals Gaming Club, which also owns the Los Angeles Valiant.

The Atlanta Reign on Friday signed DPS Hugo "Sharp" Sahlberg from the Overwatch League's Contenders division, adding a player who has amassed quite a bit of success in the OWL's feeder division.

"Super happy and excited to be joining the @ATLReign for owl 2020," SharP tweeted. "Can't wait to work hard and show good results!"

The 17-year-old Swede turns 18 in December, allowing him to meet the OWL's age requirement before the 2020 season begins on Feb. 8.

With Team Envy -- the Dallas Fuel's academy team -- SharP helped his squad win the North American West region of the Contenders division during both 2019 seasons. Envy also took second place at the Atlantic Showdown and advanced to the lower bracket finals of the Contenders Gauntlet in South Korea.

The league has grabbed several players from Envy. The Washington Justice grabbed tank duo Elliot "Ellivote" Vaneryd and Lukas "Lullsish" Wiklund during OWL Season 2, and main tank Ashley "Trill" Powell joined the Dallas Fuel midseason in 2019.

-- Field Level Media