Contenders Australia is around the corner, and a lot has happened since IEM Sydney just six weeks ago.

Australia’s champions, Order, represented the region on the international stage at the Pacific Showdown. Legacy and Athletico fought their way back through Trials to requalify for Contenders this season. New rosters have been forged, old units recommissioned, and some teams just stayed out of the shuffle entirely.

With that in mind, here’s a quick rundown of what happened in the off-season, to whet your appetite for great Overwatch action starting on June 16.

A chance on the world stage

With the introduction of the Pacific and Atlantic Showdowns, Contenders has finally gone international. After claiming the season one title and breaking the finals curse, Order wore the heart of Australia on their shoulder innews broke that the FBI had been taping phone calls placed to the senior Republican in the United States Senate as part of a bribery investigation stretching back more than a year. In fact, the man alleged to have bribed the senator is cooperating with investigators, and the calls recorded included some he placed at the FBI’s behest. The Washington Post, always eager to cover political stories of national import, ran the news on page A10. Most papers gave it similar prominence, if they ran the item it at all. Contrast that to the (admittedly lurid) tale of Norman Hsu, fronted by papers around the nation. That was a case of a major donor to Democratic figures who turned out (unbeknownst to the politicians to whom he donated)