Another fairly quiet week of Overwatch League as the qualifier matches for the Countdown Cup continue. We’ve had some shenanigans in the APAC region matches thanks to our friends from Chengdu. Let’s get into that along with a bit of league news.
News and Blues
The only bit of news from week 25 that is worth talking about is the signing of the Japanese DPS player Ta1yo to the San Francisco Shock.
Ta1yo was formerly on APAC region teams like JUPITER and CYCLOPS. He was also on the Japanese Overwatch World Cup team for three years (2017-2019).
Ta1yo’s debut match in the Overwatch League was against the Vancouver Titans and he had a fantastic performance on the Genji.
I am very glad to see this player who has been grinding in the pro OW scene for a while come up to the Overwatch League. San Francisco Shock’s scouting continues to be fantastic, their signings this year have been greatly successful.
The Meta
This week we see a variation on the Genji meta that has been dominant for the last few weeks in the league. Teams in the NA region are opting for a Winston/Zarya tank line with a Genji/Tracer or a Genji/Ashe DPS line. Supports are either Zenyatta/Brigitte or Moira/Lucio.
In the APAC region, some of the APAC teams opted to replace the Winston with the Wrecking Ball. The best example of this was of course the Chengdu Hunters with Ameng on the Ball. Chengdu dictated the meta in APAC this week and they are at the top of the APAC region right now in the qualifiers. We also so Sombra being played instead of a Genji, Shanghai Dragons were a good example of this with Lip on the Sombra. The London Spitfire also decided to run the Mercy instead of the Brigitte.
The Games
We have three series this week worth talking about, two of them from the APAC region and one from the NA.
Seoul Dynasty vs Chengdu Hunters
This 5 mapper series showed that the Hunters can still hang with the rest of the league if they start playing compositions and styles that they are comfortable with. With Ameng on the Wrecking Ball along with Jinmu’s Genji and Leave’s Ashe and Tracer, this series was back and forth maps. An exciting series to watch because this is the Hunters at their best.
Shanghai Dragons vs London Spitfire
This series was a clash of styles, Shanghai opted for the Sombra/Genji with the Winston/Zarya while London decided to take a page out of Chengdu’s book and play the Wrecking Ball instead along with the Mercy (played by both Fuze and Sanguinar throughout the series). London started a reverse sweep in the second half of the series but were unable to bring it to a close in the fifth map. At this point it is evident that this London squad of rookies aren’t anything to be trifled with.
Philadelphia Fusion vs Los Angeles Gladiators
This series was a sad one for Gladiators fans. The first half looked extremely good for the Gladiators and it was looking like it was going to be 3-0 for them. But one thing I’ve learned over the years watching the league is to never count the Philadelphia Fusion out of the series. And so behold, the second half was the start of a reverse sweep that they were able to bring to a map 5 and close out the series with a 3-2 victory.
Wrapping It Up
A better week than last week as we got to see some Wrecking Ball played throughout multiple series.
Next week should be the last week of the qualifier matches before the tournament starts so things are about to start heating up again.
For now, I leave you with this:
See y’all next week!