Overwatch League Stage 1 Week 3 Day 3 Recap

Welcome to the OWL Week 3 Day 3 Recap for Stage 1! Two clean sweeps, a map five and an accidental substitution took place during the most recent day of action in the Overwatch League. From bizarre (but fantastic) strategies to an unfortunate C9, here is what happened during the most recent matches of the Overwatch League.

Contents

1 Paris Eternal versus Atlanta Reign
2 Florida Mayhem versus Houston Outlaws
3 San Francisco Shock versus Washington Justice
4 Dallas Fuel versus Shanghai Dragons

Paris Eternal versus Atlanta Reign

The first match of the night was between two teams who have made a strong start in the Overwatch League. The Paris Eternal took on the Atlanta Reign to kick off the third day of matches, and whilst fans were hoping for a tight match, it was the complete opposite. The Atlanta Reign managed to sweep the Paris Eternal, and the match ended with a final score of 4-0 in favour of Atlanta.

Atlanta dominated this game. From solid coordination to effective communications, it seems that the Reign were simply the better team in the matchup. But the most impressive part of their match was the crazy strategy that Daniel “Dafran” Francesca and Petja “Masaa” Kantanen pulled off during their attack phase on Hollywood. The strategy originally came from Reddit user ‘/u/mycrazycat’, and Masaa confirmed in his post-game interview that the strategy did indeed come from Reddit.

Reddit Strats make an appearance

The strategy itself is clever and impressive. Dafran and Masaa used the elevator to get to the high ground on the first point of Hollywood, then waited until their teammates told them that Paris were in the right spot. Masaa then used his Speed Boost as Lucio to get Dafran and himself onto the roof of the café, and then Dafran jumped over as Zarya and dropped his Graviton Surge from above. Atlanta then forced Paris back after they killed main support Kruise, continuing to push the payload whilst at it.

Paris was defeated by Atlanta, but they did have a somewhat strong showing during their defense on Temple of Anubis. They also decided to stray away from the usual 3/3 composition, putting Terence “SoOn” Tarlier onto the Bastion behind Benjamin “BenBest” Dieulafait’s Orisa shield. After a close brush with death, SoOn managed to kill three members of the Atlanta Reign alone, and his team cleared up the rest to halt Atlanta’s push onto the first point, shaving more time off of the clock for their enemies.

Florida Mayhem versus Houston Outlaws

Florida Mayhem vs. Houston Outlaws

The second match of the night saw the Florida Mayhem and the Houston Outlaws battling it out for a chance at redemption. The Florida Mayhem had lost to the Guangzhou Charge on Thursday, and the Houston Outlaws lost to the New York Excelsior in the previous week. Whilst both teams were looking to take the win, it was the Houston Outlaws who claimed the victory in the end, with the final score ending at 3-1 in favor of Houston.

The Houston Outlaws may have pulled off something that many people would deem impossible: accidentally substituting in a player. According to Christopher “Bani” Benell, Houston messed up their starters for the roster and then substituted Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty for Bani for Ilios, even though Bani wasn’t supposed to play. Despite this, Houston still managed to take the match win. From having Jacob “Jake” Lyon playing Ana on Kings Row to good team coordination and effective communication, Houston is looking much better than they have in their recent matches.

Florida Looks Good despite Loss

Florida lost, but there were still some strong moments coming from the Mayhem. Florida’s two-way contract DPS player, Damon “Apply” Conti, shook things up as he decided to play Genji on Horizon Lunar Colony to counter the Outlaws as they played with Bastion and Orisa on the high ground. Apply was able to help break through the barrier thanks to the amplified damage given to him by his team’s Mercy, as well as building ultimate percentage faster. As Florida began to take control of Point A, Apply dashed into Houston’s defense and cut them down, killing three members to take it apart whilst his team killed the remaining three.

San Francisco Shock versus Washington Justice

The Washington Justice faced off against the San Francisco Shock for the third match of the night. Unfortunately, Washington left the Blizzard arena still looking for their first win of the season. The San Francisco Shock toppled the Justice in the match, securing the win with a final score of 4-0.

San Francisco broke a record during this match. The Shock managed to complete their attack round of Numbani in a staggering 3 minutes and 8 seconds. According to WinstonsLab, not only is it the fastest completion time of the map in the Overwatch League, it was the fastest completion time in competitive Overwatch history, and that is including competitions before Overwatch League even existed. Along with good teamwork and effective planning, San Francisco dominated during this match, frequently capitalizing on Washington’s mistakes during the entire match.

Rough Day For Washington

It was an incredibly rough game for the Washington Justice. They were countered at every turn, and whilst Ado did manage to land a triple kill as Brigitte thanks to Corey’s Graviton Surge on Route 66, it wasn’t enough to give them the win. Nobody wants to see the Justice lose, but the team needs to work on their mistakes and improve if they are going to win. The team has strong players, but they need to utilize their skills and work on their coordination in order to get the results that they want in the end.

Dallas Fuel versus Shanghai Dragons

Dallas Fuel vs. Shanghai Dragons

The final match of the night was one that went the distance, as the Dallas Fuel took on the Shanghai Dragons to close out the night. Shanghai was looking to further their win streak, but Dallas had other plans. After a very close match, the Dallas Fuel took the win, with a final match score of 3-2 in favor of the Fuel.

Shanghai had a good game against Dallas, despite the loss in the end. DPS player for the Dragons, Jin-kyeok “DDing” Yang, once again proved his dominance as Sombra as he landed a six-man EMP during their defense of the third point on Numbani. But the show didn’t stop there. Dallas Fuel went into the final stretch with a huge time bank in their pocket, but Shanghai managed to hold them back for four minutes before Dallas eventually pushed the payload through. Although Shanghai lost the match, the games themselves were close, and Shanghai has proven that they are a strong competitor in this season of the Overwatch League.

Dallas looks like a complete team

Dallas came out on top in the end, and they did it convincingly. The Fuel completely dominated during their control maps, taking both of them with a 2-0 win. They had a little luck with a glitch going in their favor, with Richard “rCk” Kanerva somehow eating a Zenyatta ultimate as D.va, but the Fuel didn’t need it to win. Through good team communication and strong coordination to win the team-fights, Dallas is looking strong, and their opponents should be well prepared for their games in the future.