Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 2 Day 1 Recap

Another day of matches took place in the Blizzard Arena last night, as the Overwatch League’s second season is now in full swing. With two matches that went 4-0 and some surprise victors in the games. Here is the recap of the Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 2 Day 1.

London Spitfire vs Washington Justice

Washington Justice versus London Spitfire

This was the strangest match of the night by far. The London Spitfire kicked off the night by facing off against the Washington Justice, and the match was one that fans may have not been expecting. The first three games of the five-map series were quite slow, with both teams merely poking each other to get progress. Washington managed to take the first two maps, but London managed to pull off the reverse sweep and take the win 3-2.

Washington proved that they can compete with the top dogs of last year’s season, taking London to a fifth map and beating them in the first two maps before halftime. DPS player for the Justice, Gi-hyeon “Ado” Chon, secured the first map win for his team on Busan Sanctuary. As London fought to take over the point, Ado landed a triple kill as Brigitte to wipe out half the team and force the Spitfire back. With the capture percentage at 99% for Washington, overtime soon ended, and the Justice took the map win.

London started off rocky, but soon gained their stride again in the third map of the series and completed the reverse sweep. The star of the night for the Spitfire was flex tank Jun-ho “Fury” Kim. He had a strong D.va performance in the last three maps of the series. His well-timed D.va bomb during their second defence on Horizon Lunar Colony, took out both Janus and Gido on the enemy team. With overtime ticking away, no members of the Justice could remain on the point, and London managed to secure the map win to keep their hopes alive.

Florida Mayhem versus Philadelphia Fusion

Whilst the match between the Spitfire and the Justice was the strangest, this match between the Florida Mayhem and the Philadelphia Fusion was the most surprising. Fans had already pegged it that the Fusion would defeat the Mayhem, having already beaten the previous two teams they faced off against last week. However, the result could not have been more different. The Florida Mayhem took the win off of the Philadelphia Fusion with a 2-1 victory, and whilst the team still has improvements to make, this victory shows they’re stepping in the right direction.

Florida won the game, which impressed their fans since the squad lost their game against the Atlanta Reign last week. The improvements being made are definitely showing, with the team looking more consistent despite the mess-ups that they had in the game. DPS player for Mayhem, Sang-Bum “BQB” Lee, landed a well-timed Graviton Surge that trapped the majority of the Fusion inside of it, allowing for his team to eliminate those trapped. However, flex tank for the Fusion, Gael “Poko” Gouzerch, took control of the point whilst this was happening.

Undeterred, BQB and his team made their way back to the point. BQB then cleared off both Poko and Neptuno when they contested the point, switching control back over to the Mayhem and securing the round win. Another star play made on the side of Florida came from flex tank Jae-mo “xepheR” Koo, who landed a 3-man D.va Self Destruct on Numbani to force back Philadelphia with help from BQB’s Graviton Surge.

Thoughts

Philadelphia may have had a rocky game, but their strong points were still on show. DPS star for the Fusion, Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee, had a very strong game as Zarya on Numbani, landing a triple kill with his Graviton Surge keeping Florida in place to stop them from contesting the point. With only one tick needed to win the map, the rest of Florida fell to the hands of Philadelphia, and they were able to secure the map win. Carpe also showed off his McCree on Nepal Sanctum, as he took care of two members of Florida before de-meching Xepher midair, causing him to fall to his death.

Guangzhou Charge versus Dallas Fuel

The Dallas Fuel faced off against the Guangzhou Charge in the third match of the night, and fans weren’t quite sure what to expect. Dallas had beaten the Seoul Dynasty the previous week, but lost 0-4 to the San Francisco Shock as well. Meanwhile, Guangzhou took the Chengdu Hunters to a map five but fell short at the final hurdle. With results like these, viewers weren’t quite sure who to predict as the winner. However, the result was rather one sided, as the Guangzhou Charge took the win with a clean 4-0 sweep over the Fuel.

Guangzhou took the win over the Fuel. The exciting plays that we saw from the team gives us a good insight that this team is going to do well this season. One player who stood out from the crowd was DPS player Jung-woo “Happy” Lee. Happy landed three clean Widowmaker headshots onto the Dallas Fuel to keep them off of the point on Busan Meka Base. Each shot was as clean as the last, with a very impressive flick onto Rck.

Thoughts

Dallas lost, but they still had a strong showing against the charge, demonstrating clear communication and team coordination amongst their members. DPS for the Fuel, Dylan “aKm” Bignet, launched his Graviton Surge as Zarya to trap five members of the Charge inside of it. Once trapped, flex tank Richard “rCk” Kanerva sent his D.va Self-Destruct into the sky, and when it exploded, it took three members of the Charge with it. Rck then took down a fourth member, and his team cleared up the rest of the enemy to defend the payload on Hollywood.

Seoul Dynasty versus Chengdu Hunters

The Seoul Dynasty battled against the Chengdu Hunters for the final match of the night, and whilst some viewers may have expected the match to be quite close, it ended up being rather one sided with its results. Seoul took the victory over the Hunters with a clean 4-0 sweep, impressing their fans and heading back in the right direction after their loss to the Dallas Fuel at the end of last week.

Chengdu may have lost the match, but they still had a good showing despite the results they ended with. They showcased good communication and effective coordination, as the combo on Ilios Ruins would prove. Flex tank for the Hunters, Ma “LateYoung” Tianbin, trapped the Seoul Dynasty inside of his Graviton Surge as Zarya. DPS player Yi “JinMu” Hu and main support Li “Yveltal” Xianyao to eliminate the entire team off the Surge. This stopped the Dynasty from taking control of the point and allowed for the Hunters to gain more capture percentage. Another highlight from the Hunters was from flex support Kong “Kyo” Chunting. He scored a quadruple kill as Zenyatta to clear Seoul off of the point. Chengdu then flipped control of the point back in their favour and won the round.

Thoughts

Seoul won the match, but it wasn’t through flashy plays that happened or complete wipes of the enemy team. The Dynasty won through clean, effective gameplay. Whilst the Hunters were making some very flash plays that looked impressive, Seoul noticed that the Hunters were making very minor mistakes or capitalising on those flashy plays. So, the Dynasty preyed on these missteps. They would win team fights or whole maps off of those mistakes.