This week was the calm before the storm that will be the Summer Showdown tournament.
The Meta
This was another week without any hero restrictions and it seems the meta seems to be settling into Genji based dive or the Ashe/Tracer double shield compositions for teams that don’t have a good enough Genji player.
A lot of Genji meant that we saw a lot of nano-blades, we saw a bunch of failed blades and we also saw some spectacular blades from the likes of TTuba (Washington Justice).
Due to the presence of Genji and Sigma in this meta, the support lineups usually included Baptiste because of his immortality field ability which provided significant mitigation against both Gravitic Flux and nano-blades. A lot of fights were determined by which team used immortality field first and subsequently had them destroyed first.
I suspect we will continue to see this meta solidify further into next week when the tournament starts.
The Games
A lot of 3-0 Overwatch this week so there are only two matches worth talking about. The tournament matches next week I suspect will be much more entertaining.
Florida Mayhem vs Houston Outlaws [NA]
This one was an unexpected close one. I was expecting a 3-0 in favour of Florida but it seems the Mayhem were keen on playing especially sloppy on that day which means the Outlaws were about to get a reverse sweep started. It would have been extremely embarrassing for the Mayhem if they lost this series but ultimately they were able to win the tiebreaker map.
New York Excelsior vs Guangzhou Charge [APAC]
This series was a fun one. It was a close series and we got to see Libero back on the line up and Haksal back in Brigitte jail (anybody remember GOATs?). This series was extremely back and forth but on maps that Guangzhou won they won definitively and it never quite felt like the Excelsior had the clear upper hand throughout the series. Shoutout to the Charge’s off tank Cr0ng for an incredible performance throughout the series.
The Brackets
So since next week is tournament week, let’s talk about what the starting brackets for the Summer Showdown.
NA bracket
We are of course starting with the knockout series on July 3rd:
- Los Angeles Valiant vs Toronto Defiant
- Los Angeles Gladiators vs Washington Justice
- Florida Mayhem vs Houston Outlaws
- Paris Eternal vs Dallas Fuel
The following teams get a bye into the quarter finals:
- San Francisco Shock (seed #1)
- Vancouver Titans (seed #4)
- Philadelphia Fusion (seed #3)
- Atlanta Reign (seed #2)
APAC bracket
The APAC bracket is slightly different since the number one seed automatically gets a bye straight into the semi-finals so there are three knockout series instead of four since there are fewer teams in this region.
- London Spitfire vs Seoul Dynasty
- Guangzhou Charge vs Chengdu Hunters
- New York Excelsior vs Hangzhou Spark
The number one seed is the Shanghai Dragons and their first series in the tournament will be against whoever wins London vs Seoul.
The Predictions
Let’s have some fun by doing some bracket predictions. Everybody loves predictions.
NA predictions
- Los Angeles Valiant vs Toronto Defiant – as much as I love the Defiant, this is not a matchup they are favoured in unless they can pull out a performance unlike anything I’ve seen this year. So yeah, Valiant take this and Defiant are eliminated.
- Los Angeles Gladiators vs Washington Justice – The Justice look like they are on a upward trajectory with that win against the Boston Uprising this week but I don’t think they are good enough to beat the Gladiators at this point. So Gladiators win and Justice are eliminated.
- Florida Mayhem vs Houston Outlaws – a rematch, the match this week was a close one, if the Mayhem play as sloppily as this week they could actually lose but I still think they have the upper hand overall. Mayhem wins and Outlaws are eliminated.
- Paris Eternal vs Dallas Fuel – this one is the series I’m least sure about, Paris and Dallas are both looking alright at this point so it could go either way. But in the interest of this, I’ll predict Eternal to take and Fuel are eliminated.
APAC predictions
- London Spitfire vs Seoul Dynasty – The Dynasty look like they are on an upwards trajectory with Michelle back in the off tank role and the Fleta/Profit DPS duo firing on all cylinders but I can definitely see the Spitfire taking this as they have been looking pretty damn good too. I’m going to go with the Spitfire win and Dynasty eliminated.
- Guangzhou Charge vs Chengdu Hunters – This one won’t even be close. The Hunters’ play recently has looked like six solo queue ranked players instead of a OWL team. The Charge will move forward and the Hunters will become the hunted.
- New York Excelsior vs Hangzhou Spark – The Spark have been on a downward trajectory recently with their losses to the Spitfire and the Dragons this week. The Excelsior on the other hand look like a team that is improving. So, I’m going to go with a Excelsior win and the Spark being eliminated.
Conclusions
A quiet week to help us get ready for all the tournament shenanigans next week. I can’t wait! The May Melee was a lot of fun and I’m expecting this tournament to be a lot of fun as well.
See y’all next week!