The Roar
The Roar

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The Overwatch League Daily - Day 1

Roar Rookie
19th January, 2018
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Overwatch World Cup Stage (Image: Blizzard Entertainment)
Roar Rookie
19th January, 2018
1

The Los Angeles Valiant completed a 4-0 clean sweep first-up against San Francisco Shock. The hometown heroes put on a demolition in the first match of Overwatch League Season One.

Los Angeles Valiant vs San Francisco Shock
BabyBay, a DPS player from Shock, pushed through the Valiant’s defence in the Point A on Dorado with his McCree. Valiant’s DPS player, Agilities, played Genji to astounding effect. He perfectly cut off the Shock’s DPS and Supports from being able to do anything on the final point on Dorado.

San Francisco Shock failed to capture the final point as they C9’d it, a recurring meme within the Overwatch community when C9 all left the payload/point during overtime, resulting in victory for their opponents. All Valiant had to do was push to the final point to secure the first map for themselves. Envy, Valiant’s Flex player, had a stellar performance on the D.Va as he cut down Shock’s DPS and Tanks by continuously charging towards them, causing them to reposition away from the final point.

On Temple of Anubis, Agilities and Soon were the players to watch this series, their stellar performances throughout the three rounds ensured Valiant’s victory. Valiant managed to secure four points as Shock only managed three, leading to Valiant’s victory for the second map.

Ilios, the only map Valiant need to conquer to secure the first ever victory in The Overwatch League Season One. Shock took the first round, they were then reverse-swept by Valiant resulting in a Valiant victory for the map. As Valiant secured their first victory they still weren’t satisfied, going 3-0 to comprehensively crush the Shock.

Shanghai Dragons vs Los Angeles Gladiators
There wasn’t much expectation for the Shanghai Dragons coming into this match against the hometown favourites, LA Gladiators. Following on from a poor preseason, Dragons’ plays were lacklustre. It felt like watching an amateur team. The Gladiators, on the other hand, throttled with full force, executing their strategies perfectly. With many wombo combos, they maintained pressure by waiting near the Dragons’ spawn location (map and gamemode) and eliminating them within seconds of entry.

The Dragons couldn’t secure Point A on Dorado, which made things easier for the Gladiators. Shaz – the support player for the Los Angeles Gladiators – was bloodthirsty, similar in style to the famous support player ryujehong. Shaz took down Diya, the DPS player for Shanghai Dragons.

On Temple of Anubis, the Dragons managed to capture Point A on offence, but the Gladiators’ defence was too strong. Bischu – the Flex player for the Gladiators – started tearing things up on D.Va as he zoned out the Supports and DPS of the Dragons with D.Va’s ‘Self Destruct’ ability. During Overtime, the Dragons became desperate and charged towards the final point only to be shut down by the ruthless duo of Shaz and Asher.

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After switching sides, the Gladiators were calm and collected and took their time to set up and secure Point A. iRemiix – the main Tank player for the Gladiators – charged towards the narrow ledge where the Dragons were hiding. He popped down his “Barrier Protector” as he landed, causing the Dragons to disperse and for the rest of the Gladiators to pick off. This resulted in a clean ace for the Gladiators and they secured the Point A. The Gladiators didn’t waste any time charging towards Point B to obtain a tick. They roared all the way by picking off the Dragons and secured the second map.

Hydration – a DPS player for the Los Angeles Valiant – was the one to watch on Ilios. His accuracy on Pharah was amazing as he picked off the Supports and DPS of the Dragons. The Gladiators managed to get 99 per cent before getting aced by the Dragons. BigGoose – a Gladiators Support – gutted the Dragons’ chances as he ‘booped’ the Dragons’ Zenyatta into the well.

Hydration got a triple kill as Genji in Round Two, he took down both of the Dragons’ Support players and their remaining DPS, which resulted in a victory for the Valiant.

The Dragons were unable to capture a point in Eichenwalde. It got to the stage where the Gladiators were spawn-trapping, waiting for them to enter through the main gateway for Point A. The Gladiators were able to secure the final map of the series, resulting in a 4-0 win.

The LA Gladiators have the quickest win record so far in The Overwatch League Season One. They’ve also shown great synergy amongst their players and they’re not a team that people should sleep on.

Seoul Dynasty vs Dallas Fuel
Favourites to win the Season One Overwatch League, Seoul Dynasty took on another strong team, the Dallas Fuel. Their rivalry can be traced back to when both teams played in APEX, the tournament held by OGN. At the time, Fuel were known as Team EnVyUs, while Dynasty was known as Lunatic Hai. Both teams have won an APEX title, with Lunatic Hai becoming back to back APEX champions for Season Three and Four.

Dallas Fuel’s DPS player, Taimou, unleashed the Hog as his perfectly aimed hooks picked off Dynasty’s key players. He prevented ryujehong’s Zenyatta from transcending on the payload, which eventually secured a victory for Round One to Fuel.

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DPS players Fleta (Dynasty) and Effect (Fuel) both used Widowmaker. Both players showed great precision as they battled it out. Taimou’s hook on Munchkin could have been the game-winning play as Munchkin still had Reaper’s ult up, but he died before he could use it. Dynasty failed to advance to the final point on Junkertown.

Fleta and Effect carried on their Widowmaker face-off in Temple of Anubis. Effect did a fadeaway snipe as he jumped off a ledge with style. The Fuel charged towards the final point without hesitation and quickly aced the members of Dynasty, resulting in a quick round for them. Seoul fought back, with Fleta doing work on the Genji and cutting down the Supports from Fuel. Dynasty levelled the series 2-2, leading to a tiebreaker.

Dynasty were quickly able to capture the next two points in the tiebreaker round, creating a 4-2 lead. However, the Fuel weren’t giving up easily and throttled towards their opponents, securing Point A. On the final point, Dynasty’s defence was good but not good enough to prevent another tiebreaker series. Fuel secured the final point after acing the Dynasty members.

Fleta’s Genji quadrakill on Point A lead to a quick and clean capture for Dynasty. Effect’s Tracer wasn’t enough to prevent Fuel being unable to defend the final point. He was cut off by Munchkin’s Tracer, another DPS player for Dynasty.

Effect’s Genji was indeed effective as he sliced and diced four members of the Seoul Dynasty. He took down the Dynasty’s two supports, ryujehong and Tobi, and proceeded to take down Munchkin and Zunba. Genji’s quadrakill lead to the Dallas Fuel securing the Point A, bringing the score to 5-6. As the timer ticked away in the final point, Seoul Dynasty’s defence became rock solid. Unfortunately, XQC did a C9 and leapt away from the point as Winston, ensuring Dynasty’s victory on the second map.

Tobi became a bloodthirsty support on Ilios. His Lucio became a threat and a DPS to the Dallas Fuel. He booped several members of the Dallas Fuel off the map and he continued this trend into Round Two. Tobi became the gatekeeper and decided which unfortunate Fuel member would be pushed into the well. Fleta’s Pharah showed why he’s one of the best DPS players in the League, his accurate cannon shots and front-on barrages too much for the Fuel to take. Tobi did a fadeaway boop on HarryHook’s Zenyatta as he tried to use transcendence to prevent his teammates from falling.

Seoul secured a 2-0 on Ilios, winning the third map.

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Fuel’s offence on Numbani was stellar. There were bits that could be questioned but they were covered up through their players and perfect executions of wombo combos. Fuel managed to obtain all three points in Round One. Fuel’s Effect sniped down the Supports and DPS players on Dynasty as Widowmaker. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough to prevent them from securing the final point in Round Two, resulting in a tiebreaker match.

Now 3-3, Fuel failed to secure the first point and it was Dynasty’s turn to give everything they had. Fuel’s defence and Dynasty’s desperation lead to no points being taken by Dynasty, ending the match in a draw.

Dynasty were deemed the victors as they had the upper hand. The Dynasty players looked frustrated. Maybe they weren’t satisfied with their play or perhaps they just didn’t realise they’d won the series. The referee tapped Tobi’s back to remind them to shake hands – that’s when they realised they’d won and seemed happier.

The Overwatch League Day One showed promising signs for the future. Rivalries continued and it was a good day for Los Angeles as both their teams secured resounding 4-0 wins.

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