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After six months of incredible Overwatch action – it all comes down to this. Only two teams remain in the Overwatch League, as they do battle at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in one of the biggest esports events in history.
The London Spitfire (24-16) and Philadelphia Fusion (24-16) entered the playoffs as the two lowest-seeded teams but, after an incredible playoff series with more than its fair share of twists and turns, they are the last ones standing as we enter the final best-of-three of the postseason.
It’s fair to say we always knew the Spitfire had it in them. Their awe-inspiring run to the Stage 1 title made them the early runaway favourites for the inaugural championship, but they hit some heavy speed humps in Stages 3 and 4. Their 3-0 loss in the first game of their quarterfinal against the LA Gladiators looked to be the signature on their death certificate but, since then, London haven’t dropped a single map.
Philadelphia, on the other hand, were bridesmaids throughout the season. Their consistent, yet unremarkable, form had them firmly on the playoff radar, but never seriously discussed as title contenders. Their adjustment to the Hanzo-heavy meta the postseason has been played under has been second to none, with Carpe (Jae-hyeok Lee) surely the favourite thus far for playoffs MVP.
Where: Barclays Center, New York
When: Game 1: 9am (AEST), Saturday, July 28, Game 2/3*: 6:00am/8:00am* (AEST), Sunday, July 29
How to Watch: Live on Twitch
* – if necessary
Stage 1, Week 1: London 4, Philadelphia 0
Stage 2, Week 2: Philadelphia 0, London 4
Stage 3, Week 2: London 2, Philadelphia 3
Stage 4, Week 5: Philadelphia 3, London 1
Overall: London 2, Philadelphia 2
As you’d expect, based on their early season form, London made light work of the Fusion in their first two matches – both absolutely dominant 4-0 victories.
In their first meeting, the Spitfire put together full holds on Horizon and Numbani to complement a 2-0 sweep on Ilios in a breezy win. The second meeting was similarly lopsided, with a single point on Route 66 – the last map of the match – the only point Philadelphia scored across the four rounds in what was an utter demolition.
But the Fusion were able to claw it back over their last two meeting and actually square their lifetime meetings at 2-2. In Stage 3, they got out to a 2-0 lead on Temple of Anubis and Blizzard World, before staving off the rally with a 2-0 win on Oasis.
The most recent meeting was on the last day of the regular season, and was technically the Spitfire’s most recent outright loss. Philadelphia took a 3-1 win that day after edging out close triumphs on King’s Row, Hanamura and Oasis, before easing up on Gibraltar with the match already won.
They can focus down Carpe.
Carpe has simply torn his opponents to shreds throughout the postseason, with his mastery of new meta-pick Hanzo simply second to none.
Given we’re not playing on the current patch, which has gone to great lengths to break up the dual-sniper meta, London will need to find a way to shut this man down.
It won’t be up to either the snipers to outduel him or the mobile tanks to hassle him, it’ll be a full-team effort required if they’re going to be any chance of dousing the hottest man in Overwatch right now.
They can stem London’s momentum.
In all four of London’s playoff victories it was pretty clear that, once the first map had wrapped up, the Spitfire were on a roll.
When the Spitfire click they’re simply unstoppable, but they can get rattled.
Their 3-0 loss in Game 1 against the Gladiators might have been the weakest playoff performance from any team – and it all came from a demoralising map one loss.
The Fusion need to throw everything at the first map and get inside their opponents’ heads early, otherwise they face a tidal wave of momentum coming from the wrong direction.
This postseason has been quite simply impossible to predict – none of our playoff series predictions have been correct.
Both of these teams have stunned everybody by progressing right through to the final round. Neither of their first-round opponents had the consistency across all stages to make the quarterfinals a surprise, while you could argue the losing semi-finalists probably had their preparation interrupted by an unnecessarily long break.
Now that both cats are out of the bag – and both of these sides have lost the element of surprise – it’ll come down to raw pedigree. For that reason, I’m going with London to bring it home.
London 2, Philadelphia 1