Overwatch League Recap: Week 4
Photo: Carlton Beener for Activision Blizzard Entertainment
Week 4 of the Overwatch League took us to Houston Texas. The Outlaws hosted their first home stand to eight teams including the Atlanta Reign who made their 2020 season debut. Houston were able to turn around their fortunes this week but it wasn’t without it’s heartbreaks as well. Read on for your Overwatch League Recap for week 4 of the 2020 season.
New York Excelsior 3 – 0 Florida Mayhem
The first match of the weekend saw the New York Excelsior facing off against the newly recolored Florida Mayhem. Florida’s new additions to the roster have given the team a renewed spirit on the stage. New York opt’d to keep Jongryeol “Saebyeolbe” Park and Lee “WhoRU” Seung-jun on the bench and instead ran Haeseong “Libero” Kim and Yeonkwan “Nenne” Jeong for the series. New York kept a commanding hold over the flow of battle throughout the entire series. New York took control of the first point on Illios and played aggressive into Florida near their spawn. Florida tried to run a dive composition with Doomfist, Sombra and Winston for the second point. New York kept a strong hold on the point throughout the whole round. Florida did manage to flip it once in over-time, but NYXL quickly took it back and secured the round.
On King’s Row Florida ran a mirror comp into NYXL playing the meta with Mei and Mcree, but it wasn’t playing out in their favor. NYXL had a strong attack on point A and B and though Florida put up a decent defense at the end of point C New York still finished the map. Florida started their attack with a strong assault on point A and through an extended team fight managed to take the point. NYXL put up an iron-clad defense on point B, Florida managed to take the point over-time through a scrappy fight. Ultimately, they’d fall to the New York Excelsior. Anubis went New York’s way as well as they took point A and B on the back of a patient and surgical attack. Florida did have a strong attack on point A and nearly took point B in over-time but NYXL took the series with a clean sweep.
Toronto Defiant 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign
Toronto had a great showing last week taking the undefeated Philadelphia Fusion to a game five, but they weren’t prepared for the Atlanta Reign. Andrej “Babybay” Francisty led the Reign against the Defiant in what can only be described as a rampage. Babybay’s Torbjorn was a pick that added insult to injury as the Reign performed a clean sweep for the 2020 season debut. Toronto was Defiant til the end as they tried to bring the match back on Anubis, but they couldn’t quite finish the map. Atlanta on the attack tried to flex on them with another Torbjorn pick, but the Defiant were having none of it. After one botched attempt at point A, the Reign switched it up and eventually completed the map for the series win.
London Spitfire 3 – 2 Houston Outlaws
Finally over their sickness and in front of their hometown, the Houston Outlaws took the stage looking to prove something to themselves and to the league. The London Spitfire has been looking formidable this season despite being an all rookie roster. Busan didn’t go the way of the Outlaws as London took it pretty handily 2-0. Blizzard looked a bit better as the Outlaws were able to keep the Spitfire from a map completion. The hitscan duel between Lim “Glister” Gil-seong and Jiri “Linkzr” Masalin was intense and on the Outlaws attack they were able to take point A in a tough fight. It looked like things were going their way when they managed to split a team fight between their spawn and the payload, forcing London to choose which front to take. The Outlaws won out and nearly took point B, but the Spitfire rallied back and took the map.
After half time, Houston seemed to find their own groove. Jeffrey ” blasé” Tsang and Dante “Danteh” Cruz subbed in on Anubis and ran Doomfist and Sombra. Finally, allowing blasé off the Mcree and to do what he does best on Doomfist was the move Houston needed. They lost point A easily, but were able to hold the Spitfire at point B. It was a sloppy one that put the Spitfire at nearly 99% capture percentage. On the Outlaws attack, however, they had a quick take on point A and put a dominant presence on point B off the back of Danteh’s EMP and would eventually take the round. Junkertown was a hard fought map 4 that the Outlaws needed to force a game 5. The Widow duel between Glister and Linkzr bounced back and forth. The Spitfire stopped Houston just short of a map completion and on their own attack the Spitfire were inches from the win. The Outlaws managed to fight their way back and push for the game 5.
The final match happened on Illios and London took the first map as Houston went a pure dive composition. The fights were long, scrappy and a total brawl. Houston did manage to flip the point once, but the Spitfire took round 1. The brawls continued to round 2 where blasé once again brought out the Doomfist and Austin “Muma” Wilmot switched to Wrecking Ball. When the dust settled the Outlaws won the round. Round 3 wouldn’t favor Houston as the Spitfire brought out a Pharmercy combo and Houston tried to win the ground game with DoomfistSombra. Blase made a last minute switch to Tracer, but the Pharah was too much and the London Spitfire took the series 3-2.
Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion
The undefeated Philadelphia Fusion faced off against the Boston Uprising. The hitscan duel between Jaehyeok “Carpe” Lee and rookie player Min “Jerry” Tae-Hui was the thing to watch for in this match. Carpe proves that experience wins out in the end as he gets the opening kill on Jerry and allows the Fusion to take first control. The Uprising do flip the point once, but the Fusion take it back quickly and end the round on a ShatterBlizzard combo. In round 2 Boston is able to take first control with Jerry on an uncontested Symmetra. Fusion fight it back and flip the point and Boston are not able to bring it back. On King’s Row Boston gets an early pick on Sumin “SADO” Kim but before they can cap the point Carpe sneaks up behind Jerry and takes him out, taking the high ground. Fusion push Boston off the point. Boston do eventually take the point but the Fusion’s defense is too strong and they’re stopped short of point B. On their attack, Fusion show patient and coordination and take point A amidst an indecisive Boston and even do so through a Blizzard ultimate. They roll through point B with no resistance and take the map.
On map 3 on Hanamura, Boston attempts a Symmetra portal to the point but Fusion shut it down. Jerry’s switch to the Hanzo allows for a pick that leads to a capture on point A. The Fusion keep a strong hold on point B and Boston isn’t able to secure a single tick of progress. On the Fusion’s attack Carpe goes Hanzo for the mirror duel with Jerry and comes out on top once again. A quick take for point A and a convincing capture on point B secures the clean sweep for Philadelphia.
Paris Eternal 3 – 1 Atlanta Reign
This weekend was Atlanta’s first debut in the 2020 season but they had a decisive win over the Toronto Defiant the day before. Paris has shown some strong potential so far this season as well so the struggle between the two on Busan shouldn’t come as any surprise. Busan goes into round 3 but the Paris Eternal clutch out the win. The Eternal continued to press their advantage on King’s Row and through brilliant DPS plays and a strong support line. The Paris Eternal are able to push the map to completion and on the defense they hold the Atlanta Reign at the midpoint before point B taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Paris starts out Hanamura with a strong attack using a Symmetra. Their attempt to teleport onto the point is foiled by a well place ice wall but they push the attack anyhow and take point A convincingly. Their first attempt on point B takes a tick of progress but Atlanta clears them off. They manage another good attack that almost caps the point but Atlanta bounces back and holds them from completion. On their attack, Atlanta pushes hard against a stalwart defense by Paris’. The winning play in overtime is Jeong “Erster” Joon laying a blizzard at the feet of Jung “Xzi” Ki-hyo, blocking him from retreat with an ice block and the rest of the Eternal fall shortly after. Atlanta puts their first point on the board.
The Paris Eternal have a strong opening attack on Dorado and take point A with ease. Atlanta shut down the run after the choke and hold for a few team fights, but the Eternal make gradual progress into point B. Atlanta has trouble stopping the payload in the final stretch and Paris completes the map. The Reign struggle to breakthrough Paris’ defense at point A thanks to Nicolas “NiCOgdh” Moret on the Mei disrupting the tank line. A D.va bomb from the Reign finally give them an opening to capture the first point. Atlanta push in through to point B and the Eternal nearly put a stop to the attack, but the Reign manage to clutch the second point. The Eternal are able to put a stop to the attack for point C and secure the series 3 to 1.
London Spitfire 3 – 2 Florida Mayhem
The match-up between the London Spitfire and the Florida Mayhem proved to be one of the closest and most exciting series of the season thus far. On Illios the two teams traded the point back and forth going all the way to round 3 with Florida taking the first map. On Eichenwalde, the Spitfire mount a hard defense on the point and nearly shut out the Mayhem, but they’re able to take it in OT. A steady push through point B ends before Florida can capture the point. The Spitfire take a very strong attack on point A and roll through to point B with relative ease, finishing the map and tying the series 1-1.
Horizon Lunar Colony starts with London taking a convincing point A on their attack. They finish the map with a methodical and patient attack on point B. Florida’s attack is even faster than London’s and they roll onto point B with a huge bank of ultimates. They build the percentage up to nearly completing the map but the Spitfire are able to fight them back. On Florida’s next attempt they’re able to finish the fight with ease. As they go into the second round London makes quick work of point A but Sangbum “BQB” on the Sombra and Kim “Yaki” Jun-ki on the Doomfist shut down the point B attempt. On Florida’s attack the Spitfire are nearly able to shut them down on point A but with a few ultimate’s they do manage a capture. They head into point B and with some key kills from BQB’s Mcree they secure the win. Havana played out pretty evenly between the two teams as they both nearly held each other on point A and progressed quickly through point B. Florida nearly put a stop to the Spitfire just before point B, but London rolled through and finished the map taking the game to match 5.
Going into Oasis the Florida Mayhem came out of the gate with a Sombra, Doomfist and Winston dive composition. They manage to secure the point and hold it through two team fights. Yaki’s Doomfist got caught out and allowed London to flip the point. Florida switch backed to a Mcree and Mei but weren’t able to flip the point back. In the second round of the match the Spitfire took first control and held it all the way to 99% where the Mayhem flipped it in OT. Florida managed to hold til 99% as well where a big brawl broke-out on the point and London ended up coming out on top taking the series.
Toronto Defiant 1 – 3 Houston Outlaws
The last game of the week and Houston’s last chance to secure a win in front of their home crowd was against the Toronto Defiant. Houston does secure first control of the point and push agressively towards Toronto’s spawn. The Defiant are able to flip the point off the back of a Blizzard and through solid defense take the first round. The second round gets pretty brawly as Hydration brings out the Doomfist and both teams take their percentage to 99% before Houston secures the win. The Defiant ultimately take the match with a dominant hold in round 3. Going in King’s Row Toronto play patiently on their attack and catch a kill on Muma that allows them to take point A and eventually move through point B. Toronto does finish the map but does so with no time on the clock. Houston’s attack is much quicker than Toronto’s as they push through King’s Row, finishing the map with time to spare and taking the win in the second round.
In map 3 on Horizon Lunar Colony Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang and Dante “Danteh” Cruz are subbed in to run a Doomfist Sombra dive composition. Toronto manages to take one tick but Danteh builds his EMPs so quickly and manages to shut down the enemy supports before using them. Houston hold Toronto at point A and on their own attack manage to take the map after a decent hold by Toronto and mirror dive composition. Going into Dorado the Outlaws continue to run the DoomfistSombra composition and manage to mount a good defense at Toronto. They manage to take point A but are shut down half to point B. Toronto tries to run their own dive into Houston but the Outlaws are able to play it better and they take the game earning their first win of the season.
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