Overwatch League Week 1 Day 1 & 2
Apr. 17th, 2021 09:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
got_quietOk, it's League time. If you don't watch or care the below will be unbelievably boring or meaningless to you.
But... if you are curious about the Overwatch League and want a run down on any of the teams or anything I will chat anyone's ear off about it. I can't get any of my friends to care so all I have is Reddit to chat with which is... okay but not quite the same.
Anyway, my notes from the first few games of the season:
Houston vs. Dallas
Probably thanks to weird time zone fuckery for some reason they started the inaugural Season 4 game in the middle of the work day, so I didn't actually get to watch this. The Dallas story is a little depressing, what with Paris getting dismantled for them, and then Xzi retiring. But as a group they are one of the few remaining that has some sort of history with each other, and the last team that has any real connection to the old Korean scene.
On the other hand Houston has finally gotten its shit together and is in a position to stop being a complete joke. It has good players who have been languishing in bad situations and deserve to see a little success. Dante in particular is in a position to show of his extreme flexibility.
I half listened to the game while at work and it seemed like things were relatively close but Houston had the better overall team play, which is the first time I've been able to say that about Houston since Season 1 Stage 1. The question remains, is this an example of two mediocre teams slugging it out or are they going to be able to contest the top dogs?
Shock vs. Glads
The reigning champs vs that team everyone says is super good now really but never actually gets its shit together. We see some of that again in their first match vs each other. Shock were at their shakiest on the first map and then just rolled Glads the rest of the way, including on Gibraltar where they swapped Viol2t for Twilight and then put Viol2t on fucking dps where he fucked everyone on McCree. Imagine being all the dps on Shock and having Crusty say sit, we're putting in the support lol. But with Viol2t can you even be mad?
Charge vs Shanghai
Actually woke up at 4AM to watch this. Charge looked competitive in the first two maps. There were some hero plays in Bilzzard world including Kariv throwing a nano at Choisehwan who found a 4k on point 2 by himself. It was an insane carry, but they only managed a draw on that map and got fucked on the following two maps. Hitscan may be lacking, and once Shanghai adjusted and actively contested Choi there wasn't as much Charge could do anymore.
I'm hoping the fact that Charge played Shanghai so close means that they will do well against the rest of APAC.
Valiant vs Chengdu
Slept through most of it. Watched the first koth and it looked pretty bad. Jinmu continues to be the best phara in the league and the Hunters continue to be one of the few teams willing to put a Phara in the game. Valiant are not good but at least they got a map. Considering APAC it may be the only one they get. I largely feel for Wya, who played well and doesn't deserve this shit.
Philly vs Seoul
It's crazy how little I care about the Seoul roster. The only few players I do like aren't getting any play. Conversely this new Philly looks insane. Alarm Mano Hotba Rascal Carpe Tobi? Really? Fucking crazy and if they keep this lineup they're basically the new NYXL to me. Was asleep for this match though and only woke up in time to see the last two maps. Looks like Seoul is currently "regular season London" and not hitting those clutch moments while Philly looks like a beast. Alarm/Tobi is actually the best support line in the league right now imo. I'm just so happy that Tobi has managed his way back in, after the League has spit out so many good main supports over the years. (COMA RIP)
Vancouver vs Toronto
Battle of the Canucks. A bunch of Westerners looking for some redemption vs what feels like the 50th iteration of the Defiant and one of the few mixed rosters left in the league, if you consider that Philly is currently full Korean until the visa issue is dealt with. Both teams feel a bit like a bunch of spare parts, as Toronto has players that were quietly powerful in previous seasons, like Heesu, Lastro and Michelle, and Vancouver has Linkzer, basically. So it wasn't a surprise that Vancouver won. While theoretically I was kind of watching this match it wasn't particularly interesting and I spent pretty much all of it paying attention to other things. Couldn't tell you anything about it.
Atlanta vs Florida
Kind of a painful match. I like Florida but am tempered in that like by my general dislike of OGE. I don't even think he's particularly bad, but he leaves me cold as a player. Still, Florida is like Fuel one of the few rosters with a deep history in their core, this time connected to Runaway, and most of the players, and coach Kuki, are likeable, and showed a lot of strenth last season. They were looking very good on dive in this game, but appear to be trash at rush, which is a very bad omen, considering there is a lot of talk that Rush is going to be come the meta once things settle.
Reign was fine, particularly in Rush, where they clowned on Florida in Eichenwald multiple times. The end of it was an entertaining cluster fuck where Reign basically had the remnants of Florida chasing them to the cart in a weird role reversal. And Oge performed fine and the team did not fall apart. Aside from Eichenwalde Florida was in control the whole match.
I don't exactly know why people were so high on Rein. They didn't look bad, and hopefully for them rush will remain a thing, but they looked mid tier.
Fuel vs Glads
Moth is insane. He is actually ridiculous and I can't think of a bigger main support. The problem is he's on the Glads, and the Glads always look good while being completely destroyed by good teams.
He's also not getting too much playtime and is getting replaced by Skewed whenever Brig comes in.
Meanwhile Dallas are looking very good. The test will ultimately be Shock for every team in NA but looking decent two games in a row is a good sign. They're quick and agile and have more than one look and were able to clutch out some very scrappy fights, while Glads generally are really good at throwing lost fights.
The one map Glads got was just barely a win though to be fair it was a scrappy fight. But generally it looks like they're being outclassed. Moth was practically crying at the end there and that does not bode well at all for them. If I were the speculating type I'd wonder if the team is seeing the results of poor scrims right now.
But... if you are curious about the Overwatch League and want a run down on any of the teams or anything I will chat anyone's ear off about it. I can't get any of my friends to care so all I have is Reddit to chat with which is... okay but not quite the same.
Anyway, my notes from the first few games of the season:
Houston vs. Dallas
Probably thanks to weird time zone fuckery for some reason they started the inaugural Season 4 game in the middle of the work day, so I didn't actually get to watch this. The Dallas story is a little depressing, what with Paris getting dismantled for them, and then Xzi retiring. But as a group they are one of the few remaining that has some sort of history with each other, and the last team that has any real connection to the old Korean scene.
On the other hand Houston has finally gotten its shit together and is in a position to stop being a complete joke. It has good players who have been languishing in bad situations and deserve to see a little success. Dante in particular is in a position to show of his extreme flexibility.
I half listened to the game while at work and it seemed like things were relatively close but Houston had the better overall team play, which is the first time I've been able to say that about Houston since Season 1 Stage 1. The question remains, is this an example of two mediocre teams slugging it out or are they going to be able to contest the top dogs?
Shock vs. Glads
The reigning champs vs that team everyone says is super good now really but never actually gets its shit together. We see some of that again in their first match vs each other. Shock were at their shakiest on the first map and then just rolled Glads the rest of the way, including on Gibraltar where they swapped Viol2t for Twilight and then put Viol2t on fucking dps where he fucked everyone on McCree. Imagine being all the dps on Shock and having Crusty say sit, we're putting in the support lol. But with Viol2t can you even be mad?
Charge vs Shanghai
Actually woke up at 4AM to watch this. Charge looked competitive in the first two maps. There were some hero plays in Bilzzard world including Kariv throwing a nano at Choisehwan who found a 4k on point 2 by himself. It was an insane carry, but they only managed a draw on that map and got fucked on the following two maps. Hitscan may be lacking, and once Shanghai adjusted and actively contested Choi there wasn't as much Charge could do anymore.
I'm hoping the fact that Charge played Shanghai so close means that they will do well against the rest of APAC.
Valiant vs Chengdu
Slept through most of it. Watched the first koth and it looked pretty bad. Jinmu continues to be the best phara in the league and the Hunters continue to be one of the few teams willing to put a Phara in the game. Valiant are not good but at least they got a map. Considering APAC it may be the only one they get. I largely feel for Wya, who played well and doesn't deserve this shit.
Philly vs Seoul
It's crazy how little I care about the Seoul roster. The only few players I do like aren't getting any play. Conversely this new Philly looks insane. Alarm Mano Hotba Rascal Carpe Tobi? Really? Fucking crazy and if they keep this lineup they're basically the new NYXL to me. Was asleep for this match though and only woke up in time to see the last two maps. Looks like Seoul is currently "regular season London" and not hitting those clutch moments while Philly looks like a beast. Alarm/Tobi is actually the best support line in the league right now imo. I'm just so happy that Tobi has managed his way back in, after the League has spit out so many good main supports over the years. (COMA RIP)
Vancouver vs Toronto
Battle of the Canucks. A bunch of Westerners looking for some redemption vs what feels like the 50th iteration of the Defiant and one of the few mixed rosters left in the league, if you consider that Philly is currently full Korean until the visa issue is dealt with. Both teams feel a bit like a bunch of spare parts, as Toronto has players that were quietly powerful in previous seasons, like Heesu, Lastro and Michelle, and Vancouver has Linkzer, basically. So it wasn't a surprise that Vancouver won. While theoretically I was kind of watching this match it wasn't particularly interesting and I spent pretty much all of it paying attention to other things. Couldn't tell you anything about it.
Atlanta vs Florida
Kind of a painful match. I like Florida but am tempered in that like by my general dislike of OGE. I don't even think he's particularly bad, but he leaves me cold as a player. Still, Florida is like Fuel one of the few rosters with a deep history in their core, this time connected to Runaway, and most of the players, and coach Kuki, are likeable, and showed a lot of strenth last season. They were looking very good on dive in this game, but appear to be trash at rush, which is a very bad omen, considering there is a lot of talk that Rush is going to be come the meta once things settle.
Reign was fine, particularly in Rush, where they clowned on Florida in Eichenwald multiple times. The end of it was an entertaining cluster fuck where Reign basically had the remnants of Florida chasing them to the cart in a weird role reversal. And Oge performed fine and the team did not fall apart. Aside from Eichenwalde Florida was in control the whole match.
I don't exactly know why people were so high on Rein. They didn't look bad, and hopefully for them rush will remain a thing, but they looked mid tier.
Fuel vs Glads
Moth is insane. He is actually ridiculous and I can't think of a bigger main support. The problem is he's on the Glads, and the Glads always look good while being completely destroyed by good teams.
He's also not getting too much playtime and is getting replaced by Skewed whenever Brig comes in.
Meanwhile Dallas are looking very good. The test will ultimately be Shock for every team in NA but looking decent two games in a row is a good sign. They're quick and agile and have more than one look and were able to clutch out some very scrappy fights, while Glads generally are really good at throwing lost fights.
The one map Glads got was just barely a win though to be fair it was a scrappy fight. But generally it looks like they're being outclassed. Moth was practically crying at the end there and that does not bode well at all for them. If I were the speculating type I'd wonder if the team is seeing the results of poor scrims right now.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-19 03:32 am (UTC)Hope it all goes well!
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Date: 2021-04-20 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-20 03:18 am (UTC)