In perhaps a surprising move, Team SoloMid (TSM) has opted to fill its vacant coaching spot by moving Owen "Pojoman" Mitura back to the coaching position, with former Spacestation Gaming player Braden "Chala" Davenport signed as his replacement.
Chala's signing with TSM marks his return to top-flight Rainbow Six after nearly nine months out, following Spacestation Gaming's decision to drop him in favour of Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski midway through Season 10 of the Pro League.
In that time, Chala joined the Challenger League squad of PogChamp, winning Season 11 of the league in the process. Not only that, he finished with the second-highest rating in the league, 1.22, indicating that his skills have hardly decayed -- if not improved.
Pojoman at the Six Invitational 2020.
Pojoman's return to coaching, on the other hand is not stranger to coaching the Team SoloMid roster. He had previously coached when the team had been playing under Excelerate Gaming and was briefly known as Pojo's Dojo, and had continued to coach for a while after signing with TSM.
During this time, he had been able to help his team to a second-placed finish in the Allied Esports Minor Qualifiers for North America, finishing second to a Spacestation Gaming playing with none other than Chala. After signing with TSM, he helped the team to a quarter-finals finish at DreamHack Valencia 2019, but returned to a playing position when Aaron "Gotcha" Chung was signed as a coach.
Due to residency requirements, however, Pojoman returned to a coaching role for the US Nationals 2019 Finals, with Timothy "Timzy" Perez drafted in as a stand-in. Returning to a playing role, Pojoman led his team to a DreamHack Montreal 2019 win, helped them survive relegation in Season 10, before going onto finish third at the Six Invitational 2020 and second in Season 11 of the Pro League.
Chala (on the far right) with Spacestation Gaming at the Six Invitational 2019.
His replacement in a playing role on TSM, Chala, has a burgeoning amount of experience as well. Debuting in Season 4, he had played alongside Pojoman in Season 5 on the Flipsid3 Tactics roster (now DarkZero Esports). Later in April 2018, he had joined Spacestation Gaming, finishing in fourth in North America in Seasons 7 and 8 of the Pro League, and at DreamHack Montreal 2018.
The crowning achievment for Chala and the Spacestation Gaming roster at the time came at the Six Invitational 2019, where the team made it to the quarter-finals but went out in a nailbiting defeat to G2 Esports. This feat was then repeated at the Six Major Raleigh, where Team Secret was the opponent that felled them in the quarter-finals. However, with fifth placed finishes in Season 9 and an identifical eventual finish in Season 10 of the Pro League, it marked an end for Chala's time on Spacestation Gaming.
With these changes, speculation is that Team SoloMid is attempting to achieve either a Tier 1 or 2 placement in the new pilot program, and with Jacob "Daeda" Hale already present as an analyst and Maciej "MacieJay" Dzikowski as a content creator, it is likely they achieve their target.
As such, the new Team SoloMid roster is:
Matthew "Achieved" Solomon Jason "Beaulo" Doty Bryan "Merc" Wrzek Braden "Chala" Davenport Emilio "Geoometrics" Leynez Cuevas Owen "Pojoman" Mitura (coach) Jacob "Daeda" Hale (analyst)
