The June Joust qualifiers and knockout matches come to an end this week which means we have the four teams that will be facing off against in the upcoming tournament week. There are some significant upsets to talk about and the rise of a newly dominant team so let’s get started.
Meta
The June Joust has been dominated by two distinct types of compositions. One of them is the Moira based composition referred to as Neo-GOATs and the other being the Orisa/Sigma based double shield composition. Neo-GOATs has a significant amount of sustain, hence the name comparing it to the triple tank triple support composition of old.
It is not entirely clear which of these two are better than the other, the four teams entering the team play either of them to a very high level. An example of a team that is very good at the Neo-GOATS composition are the Dallas Fuel whose high tempo of play ran over the teams they faced this week.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Reign showed their hand with a extremely strong double shield composition which proved to be the demise of the San Francisco Shock.
Personally, the repetitive nature of the Neo-GOATs composition being focused on Moira’s ultimate has gotten a bit boring to watch and that has made double shield more exciting. I didn’t think I would ever say that but here we are.
The Games
There are four games worth talking about this week and those are the four games that determined the four teams that would be participating in the June Joust tournament next week. Two teams from the East and two teams from the West.
The two teams from the East are the New York Excelsior and the Shanghai Dragons who will be facing the Atlanta Reign and the Dallas Fuel in a double elimination bracket.
Honorable mention to the Philadelphia Fusion losing a single map to the Los Angeles Valiant and therefore not being able to participate in the tournament. That’s a big oof. My condolences to any Fusion fans.
Let’s look at how we got here.
New York Excelsior vs Hangzhou Spark [East]
This was perhaps the biggest upset this week. Going into this everyone was predicting that the Hangzhou Spark were a safe bet to win this match. After all, they were the dominant team during the June Joust qualifiers. However, the New York Excelsior had something to say something about that, defeating the Spark in a 3-1 series. The Spark put on a very disappointing performance in this series to say the least and made careless errors. In front of their homestand’s home crowd. Truly unfortunate.
Seoul Dynasty vs Shanghai Dragons [East]
Going into this I had predicted the Seoul Dynasty to win the series and make it into the June Joust. Turns out I had underestimated the Shanghai Dragons. It all started on Lijiang Tower where Leejaegon was able to get a total of 10 environmental kills as Lucio leading people to dub the map as Leejaegon Tower. It was all downhill from there for the Dynasty as the Dragons ran over them them in the remaining two maps to close out the series with a clean 3-0.
Dallas Fuel vs Los Angeles Gladiators [West]
This one I predicted to be a close series as both teams have looked very good over the course of the June Joust. However it looks like the Fuel’s extremely fast and aggressive style proved to be the demise of the Gladiators as they fell in a 3-1 series. The Dallas Fuel are looking to be a serious contender to win yet another championship if they keep this up.
Atlanta Reign vs San Francisco Shock [West]
The Atlanta Reign has always been one of those teams that on paper looked like they were poised to be one of the best teams in the league but their actual performance never quite lived up to the sheer amount of talent on their team. This time around however it seems the Atlanta Reign have finally found their groove and they are firing on all cylinders. In a dominant showing they 3-0ed the San Francisco Shock who looked a bit lost throughout the match. This is looking to be the time for the Reign to rise to championship levels and I’m excited to see what they can achieve in this tournament.
Conclusions
This June Joust tournament is looking like it will be quite the exciting one. I am curious and excited to see what teams like the New York Excelsior and the Atlanta Reign can do or if Shanghai can win a tournament this year. Meanwhile the Dallas Fuel are looking to get a repeat of their May Melee performance.
I cannot wait for next week’s matches. See y’all then!