Overwatch League Recap: Week 5
Photo: Carlton Beener for Activision Blizzard Entertainment
Week 5 of Overwatch League took place in Washington DC again this week as the Justice finally pulled off a win in front of their home crowd. This was also the first week of the Hero Pools with tank hero Reinhardt, DPS heroes Mcree and Widowmaker and support hero Moira being unavailable for play. Underdogs rose to victory and titans fell in this weeks games.
Toronto Defiant 1 v 3 Florida Mayhem
The Toronto Defiant have had a pretty rough go since their first match of the season where they able to take down the Paris Eternal 3 to 1. Since then, Paris has seen an up tick in their success while the Defiant continue to struggle. Toronto was started out strong against the Florida Mayhem on map 1 Busan, but the Mayhem did fight back. The Map went in Toronto’s favor 2 to 1, but that was as much control as they would have for the series. The Florida Mayhem would proceed to full hold the Defiant on Junkertown and then take the win tying the series 1 to 1.
On Blizzard World the Defiant were able to break through point A but were stopped before they secure the second point. The Mayhem came out on top as they took the win on Blizzard World. Hanamura was the final map of the series as the Mayhem secured the win and took the series 3 to 1.
Paris Eternal 0 v 3 Houston Outlaws
The Houston Outlaws came into this weekend with some momentum after their win at their homestand. Despite the hero pools favoring their composition, there wasn’t many analysts that had faith in a Houston win. Map 1 on Oasis went back and forth as the Paris Eternal did take one round, but the Outlaws secured the first win in their quest to a clean sweep. Despite their success last weekend on Doomfist and Sombra, the Outlaws instead relied more on Soldier 76 and Tracer. It seemed to be the key to victory as they put a beat down on the Paris Eternal. The Outlaws full held the Eternal on Havana. On Eichenwalde the Eternal captured point A but were stopped before they could capture the second point. The Houston Outlaws rolled through both ending the series 0 to 3.
Boston Uprising 1 v 3 Washington Justice
The Boston Uprising continue to struggle as they try to find their feet in the new hero pools. Despite taking the win over the Houston Outlaws two weeks ago, the Outlaws have managed to solve some of their issues were the Uprising continue to struggle. In their match against Washington they looked to have a strong start, taking map 1 on Busan. But the Justice weren’t going to give them any more ground in front of their home crowd. The Justice took Havana 1 to 2, Eichenwalde 2 to 3 and finally secured the series win on Horizon Lunar Colony 1 to 2. The final series score 1 to 3 in favor of the Washington Justice, earning them their first win in front of a home crowd.
Paris Eternal 3 v 2 Philadelphia Fusion
The match of the week was the Paris Eternal versus the Philadelphia Fusion. The Fusion up to this point were undefeated and one of the most dominating looking teams. The Pairs Eternal, despite dropping a match to the Toronto Defiant early on were looking very strong. Their loss the day before to the Houston Outlaws might have put a damper on their progress, but they were determined to prove they had what it takes to down the Fusion. Right out of the gates the Paris Eternal were in control of the map, they took Illios 2 to 0. Going into Junkertown the Paris Eternal were so dominant they set a new attack record for the map with 4 minutes and 12 seconds in the time bank. The Fusion nearly completed the map themselves but were pushing OT for most of it.
After half-time the Fusion came back strong refusing to go down in a clean sweep. They were able to full hold Paris on Blizzard World and take the win for themselves. They’d also secure a win 2 to 1 on Hanamura and force the game five. On Oasis it could have been anyone’s game as both teams showed tenacity and a will to win. The point went back and forth and went the full three rounds with victory being snatched from the clutches of the Fusion as the Eternal emerged the victors.
New York Excelsior 3 v 1 Washington Justice
The Washington Justice were able to secure at least one win in front of their home crowd. Going up against the behemoths that are the New York Excelsior was an uphill battle. The Justice did start off very well with a win on Nepal against New York 2 and 0. The Excelsior were only willing to give up the one map it seems as they brought it back. Dorado wasn’t a complete loss for the Justice as they did manage to take points A and B, but the map did go to New York. It only got worse for the Justice from here as they lost 3 to 1 on King’s Row and were full held on Horizon Lunar Colony.
Boston Uprising 0 v 3 Atlanta Reign
The last match of the week was the Boston Uprising and the Atlanta Reign. Boston’s decimation at the hand of the enemy team continued with another clean sweep. They did put up a bit more resistant considering how powerful Atlanta has been since their debut week at the Houston homestand. The Reign took Oasis 2 to 0 but Boston were able to take point A on Havana. In the final map of Eichenwalde, the Uprising secured point A and B, but still fell to the Reign with a 3 to 0 series score.
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