#this is like when you manage to push the payload into last during overtime and win the game for your team

[chaoticedward]

LETS FUCKING GO LADS BOOTS N BOMBS SWEEP BABEY

i promised yall boots n bombs wedding if they won against those rock chicks in @redandbluegaycompetition so here it is!!!!!!!!!!!!! lets fucking go!!! vote BOOTS N BOMBS for the rest of the competition cmon guys lets do the bnb SWEEP!

[overwatchleaguereport]

Overwatch League Week 7: The Reason the Houston Outlaws Lost to the Philadelphia Fusion

I don’t know about you guys, but Overwatch League still feels like a novelty to me. How about you?

Today’s match-up was between the Houston Outlaws and the Philadelphia Fusion. As a full disclosure, I earlier predicted that this match would go in the Outlaws’ favor, 3 - 1.

At the end of the second map, Houston was up, 2-0. Though both teams played excellent offense against each other on Volskaya and Nepal, Houston looked a bit more coordinated and fluid. During their first push on Nepal, they utilized a complicated Renhardt-Lucio-Bastion combination. Lucio boosted the other two into position, allowing Reinhardt to defend the Bastion wherever he went. The commentators pointed out that Houston’s Bastion pumped out over a thousand damage in the first few seconds of the first team fight, and he continued to harass and harry Philadelphia long afterward.

That was what struck me during the first few maps. Though Fusion put up a good fight in every map, Houston seemed much more practiced as a unit. This allowed them to try off-meta, yet effective, compositions, ultimately shocking and surprising Fusion during crucial moments.

At the same time, Fusion put up a fierce fight on Hollywood, the third map. Indeed, after they captured the payload, they tried a unique strategy in ignoring it completely and sending their entire team to go flank the Outlaws. This strategy proved surprisingly effective; once the Fusion had secured a few picks, they regrouped by the payload and pushed a bit longer before breaking off and flanking again. The Outlaws hadn’t managed to push their own payload all the way to the second point, so the Fusion ultimately captured the payload deep into overtime.

This left the score at 2-1 in favor of the Outlaws, and tensions were high as the two teams met on the fourth map. It truly felt as though either team could win the next map. For Houston, that would mean an overall victory; for Philadelphia, this would mean a chance to tie the game and take it into the tiebreaker.

The fourth map was Route 66, with the Outlaws starting off on offense. They ultimately didn’t push the payload even to the first point, coming just short as they consistently failed to deal with Fusion’s Shadowburn, who was playing pre-patch Sombra. Shadowburn consistently kept his teammates alive via hacked health packs, along with focus-firing the Outlaws’ Zenyatta to devastating effect. Shadowburn’s multiple EMPs also kept the Outlaws from being able to consistently push the point, leaving them defenseless before the Fusion’s counter assaults. Finally, when it came time for Fusion to push, they didn’t have far to go. The Outlaws’ own Sombra was unable to use EMP to as great an effect, and Philadelphia secured the payload with more than half a minute to spare.

This left the score at 2 – 2, with the final map serving as a tiebreaker. The Outlaws had won the previous Capture Point map with ease, though after two lost maps, they lacked that same vision of unity and coordination they’d demonstrated earlier in the map. It was hard to tell if the Outlaws had underestimated their opponent, or if they were just feeling fatigue, but it looked as though the Fusion were set to win the next map and the match overall.

The final map was set on Ilios, with the match-up starting on Ruins. After a fierce back and forth, with the clock hovering long into overtime, the Fusion ultimately won, putting them one round closer to the overall win. The next round was set in Lighthouse, and the Outlaws started off with a fierce offense, getting four picks within seconds and allowing them to take the point first. When Fusion’s Boombox, playing Zenyatta, managed to burst down Outlaw’s Jake, playing Tracer, the Fusion managed to overturn the point, but not after the Outlaws had 72% captured. The Fusion held the point for much longer, and looked like they might capture it altogether, but then the Outlaws came in with an aggressive assault and overturned it right when the Fusion had secured 99%. The Outlaws made up the difference, and when the Fusion split up and allowed themselves to be picked off, the Outlaws had tied the last map, 1 - 1 in terms of rounds.

The last round was on Well, and for a moment, it looked like the Outlaws would win it all. They’d pushed the point nearly to 99%, and Fusion was all but eliminated. Only a few Fusion players were left struggling to contest, but one Fusion player was all they needed.

In the end, Fusion’s Shadowburn won the game for his team. The Genji player activated his Dragonblade at a perfect moment, successfully focusing the Houston supports right before Houston finished pushing to 100%. This allowed his teammates, straggling in from their spawn point, to mop up and capture the point for the last time. Though the Outlaws tried one last push, the Fusion had the upper hand in terms of positioning, and they didn’t have to work hard to keep the Outlaws back.

At the same time, though Shadowburn’s ultimate greatly aided Fusion’s last push, both teams played well on that last map. Houston managed to overcome their slump and played better, and Fusion kept up their steamroll. If anything gave Fusion the win, it was the third map, Hollywood. I honestly think the Outlaws were feeling too confident with their 2 - 0 lead, and they underestimated the Fusion’s determination. Once Houston’s confidence was shattered in the face of a lost map, they didn’t seem to know how to recover.

Regardless, the end result was 3 – 2 in favor of the Philadelphia Fusion, who blew my expectations for them clear out of the water. Good work, guys.

Zachary out!

[sleepymarmot]

Notes I’ve taken during the Double XP weekend and forgot to publish, as usual

self care is staying in Mystery Heroes all day and never worrying about team comp

I love how you learn this game by watching and copying the enemies. I steal all positioning ideas for snipers and turrets from the read team. And reading about counters on the internet is one thing, but personal experience is more memorable. Today I played D.Va a lot and Symmetra (unsurprisingly) always wrecked me, so later when my D.Va met her red team double I switched to Symmetra and we won. I even got a POTG, though it looked unimpressive; I  also learned that the shield generator is awesome on a control map. (Earlier in the day I tried the same with Roadhog, but for some reason it didn’t work. I wonder if it’s just a general lack of skill or there’s some specific mechanic I’m not getting.)

I want to start recording the kill cams when the enemies take advantage of my mistakes in a cool way. Like when my Mei tried to chase after enemy Sombra who lured me right into Bastion’s line of sight. Or when my healer (Zenyatta, maybe Mercy, don’t remember) went through a choke ahead of the team for some reason and an enemy Mei walled me off of them.

After a couple of hours with Symmetra I now learn her teleporter is limited to six people. Whoops... 

We got absolutely demolished by a group of six on Gibraltar. They didn’t even let us out of spawn. I’d never experienced a game like this, it was like playing against aliens from Mars. When our team tried to mimic them next turn, of course someone sneaked out and they won again.

Over the weekend, my playstyle shifted from always “contest the objective!!” to “well let’s hold back and group up. okay it didn’t work. let’s group up? nope again. oh, the timer ran out”. Neither are productive. 

It’s actually one of the reasons I’m getting sick of playing healers. I want to initiate! I want to contest! I want to be! on! the! damn! objective! But how am I suposed to do it with no communication? When I’m a tank there’s at least a hope that when I rush in, the others would follow. (Which can be painful as Rein, because you can’t even turn around to check if they’re really backing you or have scattered elsewhere.) As a healer? Well, maybe Lucio, but I haven’t played him much because I can’t get the hang of wallriding and I need to be near my teammates which is not always possible. It’s so pointless to jump on the payload alone as Mercy. Or for a moment yesterday I pushed the payload as Ana, though it was in Mystery Heroes. Look, as a healer and a sniper, I don’t think I should be alone up here...

Also if I’m the only healer I can’t just switch to try and counter a particularly troublesome enemy. When I’m the only tank it applies too, but to a lesser extent.

Satisfying games I had in the same night:

Riding the payload as Bastion on Dorado attack. Never tried it before. The red team was not prepared. I don’t think the payload was ever deserted.

Tank-to-tank standoff on King’s Row, both attack and defense. I was Orisa, the enemies had Orisa too both times, and D.Va at least once. Stand your ground and spray bullets to your heart’s content. Shout out to the awesome Mercy who made this possible and rezzed me immediately, I think it was a multi rez too.

I got sick of the teams on defense standing too far from the pont, and then letting someone through and trying to rush back before they can capture it but being too late. So I went to Hollywood as Bastion, parked in a corner with my back to the gate and my barrel parallel to the wall with the chokepoint, and could shoot at anyone coming through without even aiming. The other teammates stayed on the point too. Everything went well -- until the enemy D.Va sent her mech over the wall and wiped everyone off the point at once. We couldn’t recover and they won. Now that was a POTG. I really should have expected that, though...

Speaking of D.Va -- I face so many strong ones but my own skills are still garbage :( I can’t even ult properly, like sometimes I try to use boosters but instead explode it immediately with nobody around. And I always get ejected from the mech so soon. I dunno what dark magic Defense Matrix management skills other people have.

Symmetra out-DPSed my Bastion several times and it was bullshit. She jumped around me faster than I could turn. Of course, when I play Symmetra, half of the time the enemies run away too fast and I run after them in a straight line providing an easy target, or they don’t even bother and overpower me without moving.

Me: It’s just cosmetics My obsessive brain: Makes me grind until the last hour of the event in late morning

Seriously it was kind of a hell... I waited for the new week in Arcade to unlock and couldn’t leave until my nine victories. And that night, the final night of the event, I discovered that 3v3 is the most efficient mode. No waiting/setup time, no stupid skirmish. We moved there at the suggestion of a teammate of a particularly torturous game in Total Mayhem that lasted 20 minutes. Zaryas on both sides, ults going off all the time but not killing anyone... 

And when I got all the lootboxes, they didn’t even give me anything but dupes. I had 3245 gold and was faced with a terrible choice: one skin or four dances. I’d wanted Zen and Rein’s dances all this time, Tracer and Sombra and some others are super cute too. But the skins are more prominent, while emotes can only be used occasionally and I might want to replace them on the wheel. Thankfully, I got Symmetra’s skin as loot, so the choice was between Pharah, D.Va and Lucio. I’m so terrible at Pharah I’ve stopped trying, so that skin might have been wasted on me. I looked up D.Va’s voice lines in the new skin and didn’t particularly like them. I like D.Va’s default skin, and theoretically I’d love to get my hands on the Lunar one if it’s ever available again, but I’m indifferent to Lucio’s default and the purchaseable skins are worse. So I was left with the choice between Lucio and four dances. I watched the video with this skin’s alternate songs and spent some time trying to figure out whether I like them or not.

I wasted so much time torturing myself over this I realized it could take less to earn some more gold. So I bought Lucio’s skin and went grinding again. At this point I didn’t particularly care about winning, just getting through the matches for the xp. The first lootbox was kind to me and dropped 50 gold... so I was only 5 gold away from an emote. In sleep-deprived desperation I sat down to grind another level. By the time it was over, I think it was a bit past 10am aka the official ending time. But I got my gold. I bought Zen’s dance, and I was finally free to log off and try to get rid of the adrenaline and finally get some sleep. I’m so sorry, Sweethardt... I wish we could be together :(

I’m still not sure if the Lucio skin was the right decision. The songs are indeed kind of distracting, and the speed one is badly mixed: starts with a new jazzy melody and then for some reason fades into the default beats (of a totally different style). And it bugs me that the hat completely covers his eyes. Ah, well. Any decision would have resulted in buyer’s remorse in this situation.

Highlight of the 3v3 grind session: sleepymarmot gets POTG for sleeping. My Lucio boops Ana, she shoots him with a sleepdart, and that’s all that happens. Entire chat went “wtf lol”. Clearly the game was sending us a message. It’s 7am, you know what’s the best thing to do right now? Going to fucking bed.

I pocketed Pharah a lot in those matches. I feel guilty about letting the third person die... But when my healer instincts got the better of me and I dropped down to feed a red cross, it didn’t end well. Fall off of Pharah once, and without communication, good luck trying to attach yourself to her again... Tbh I wouldn’t like to play this regularly -- it’s not very interesting to literally spend all the time literally riding on one person’s coattails. Though I guess in a normal game the fun is in the jumping back and forth between Pharah and the team -- like in a normal Mercy game but with more flying.

I also played Pharah myself in this duo a couple of times and actually didn’t do badly. I guess it’s easier on these smaller maps

After I wrote this entire post, I discovered that this event, like the free weekend, is still mysteriously active for me hours after the end date. So I went to grind again. Got Tracer’s dance (good), I think McCree’s too (don’t care). And you know what was in the final lootbox, which I opened after the event finally ended? Lucio’s goddamn skin! Of. Course.

I feel seriously burned out after playing so much in a short amount of time, especially because in the final hours I’ve stopped caring about winning at all. I lost concentration so badly -- I didn’t think about my abilities or teamwork or countering enemies, constantly attacked them head on even with characters not meant for that... What if this attitude stays and I won’t be able to play the game normally? What if I just ruined it for myself? Ugh. Why do I always have to be like this.

The best thing about this session was when I accidentally clicked on 1v1 and managed to win 5-1. It was pretty stressful so I went back to 3v3 immediately. But it was really fun to think strategically about hero selection, trying to quickly compute which of the three available characters is not only easiest for me to play, but the strongest against any of them.

Another good moment was in Mystery Heroes, when I got Reaper and on my way to the point was lamenting my inability to play him and the aforemetioned lack of concentration. The point is under attack, I teleport in, kill Zen and two others who were about to get onto it, help kill Winston in the middle of it, overtime runs out, I get POTG. Wat?

One night after playing a lot I had a dream that the Roadhog nerf came through and also changed his name (don’t remember to what) and portrait to an unmasked, civil-looking, clean-shaven 30-40 year old blond white man, and just as I went to see what his skins look like now I woke up

I finished the event at level 89. Considering that I only played during the free weekends and bought the game after the second one, that’s pretty fast leveling up.

I started recording a lot during the weekend, and have several videos in the drafts, but on second thought I don’t think anyone would be interested, there’s nothing remarkable going on in them.

[overwatchleaguereport]

Overwatch League Week 3: Seoul Dynasty vs. New York Excelsior

CORRECTION: My prediction for this game was for New York Excelsior to win 2-1, as shown in one of my posts earlier this week. I apologize for the mistake.

My prediction for this game is 3-2, with the win going to the NYE. Of course, the NYE disappointed me earlier this week, upsetting my predictions by losing to the mid-ranked Philadelphia Fusion. At the same time, top-ranked Seoul Dynasty actually gave a point to the lowest-ranked Shanghai Dragons. To put this into perspective, the Dragons had only scored one point before that, and the Dynasty had only lost one point before that game.

With that in mind, my optimism was high heading into the matchup. After all, my last recap featured an accurate prediction.

And man, I really wanted to see the Dynasty lose a match for once.

Round 1: Eichenwalde

Dynasty starting Offense

The match started with a tentative push by Dynasty, with Zumba on D. Va doing well in particular, though both teams lost enough players that neither team wanted to commit. After the Dynasty reset, they tried pushing again, but the Execlsior managed to shut the push down. Strangely enough, Dynasty’s Ryuhejong, playing Zenyatta, got stuck behind enemy lines, gliding his way near Excelsior’s spawn. Ryuhejong took advantage of the situation, though, because by the time the Dynasty struck again, he came in through the Excelsior backline and confused the Excelsior enough to allow the Dynasty to take the first point.

The Dynasty proceeded through the map at a normal pace, with each team trading eliminations as the payload inched its way onto the bridge leading to the gate. The fighting wound its way through the hallways and tunnels. Strangely enough, Dynasty spent a lot of time chasing, which left them separated and unable to complete the push. Dynasty’s Munchkin, playing Tracer, nearly backdoored the payload while the fight continued between the first two points, but the Excelsior reacted in time to keep Munchkin from actually reaching the second point.

Excelsior came out super strong, with Meko and Mano controlling the point with their D. Va and Roadhog play, respectively. Excelsior captured the point during their first push in the first minute, giving them a serious time advantage over the Dynasty.

Excelsior’s JJonak, playing Zenyatta, managed to shred Zumba’s D. Va before he could remech. Zumba’s ult was fairly weak, floating near the edge of the map without landing near anyone. This gave Excelsior the chance to push the payload nearly to where Dynasty had finished.

Finally, after a furious back-and-forth inches from the goal, with both team’s Mercies popping Valkyrie and rezzing their teammates, Excelsior’s Zenyatta and Genji managed to get around behind Dynasty. Genji popped his ult, and within seconds, nearly the entire enemy team was destroyed, giving the Excelsior enough time to match Dynasty and take the win.

Round 2: Horizon

Dynasty starting Offense

Dynasty began with a bit of hesitation, sneaking their tanks to the right while Ryuhejong jumped onto Sombra to sneak past the Orisa-led defense.

Ryuhejong landed on the point all by himself, and then his team pushed through to harry the Excelsior defense. Though the Dynasty assault didn’t work, Excelsior got split up, with their upper-level shield defense brought down. Excelsior didn’t really get a chance to regroup, and with Dynasty owning the respawn advantage, Excelsior lost the first point.

For a while, it looked like Dynasty was going to take the second point with little to no trouble. Fleta got a high string of kills that allowed the Dynasty to push the second point over 80%. Come the next push, the Dynasty swept the Excelsior off the point and took it with 2:31 left on their clock.

The Excelsior pushed onto the first point with a quadruple tank assault, sneaking around the left side of the first point. With Moira and Lucio healing the team, the Dynasty didn’t have enough damage or health to deal with the attack. The Excelsior managed to take the first point, and then charged onto the second point. Within a minute, the Excelsior managed to kill everyone on the Dynasty team save for their Mercy, who Valkyried and managed to get a couple of resurrects in just enough time for the Dynasty to bounce back and contest. However, with a well-placed Graviton surge, the Excelsior managed to sweep the Dynasty off the point, leaving them with 5:33 on their clock.

Dynasty came out swinging, playing a much more aggressive game. Dynasty’s Fleta in particular brought a tough Genji game, using his Dragonblade to cut down four of Excelsior’s teammates within the time of the ult. The aggressiveness proved effective, as the Dynasty managed to take the second point with little to no trouble at all. The push was quick and brutal.

Excelsior came out with a triple tank composition for their second assault, and they also pushed hard. Within the first minute, they had brought the Dynasty’s first point defense down, leaving them with many minutes left on their clock. The Excelsior’s push onto the second point was much sloppier this time, and much sloppier than Dynasty’s assault. However, with a few excellent ultimates from Excelsior, and a few failed ultimates from Dynasty, the Excelsior managed to take the second point as well, tying everything up.

The Dynasty had one minute to try and take the first point. Excelsior started their defense by getting two picks right off the bat, but the Dynasty managed to rally and use their Sombra and Tracer to keep contesting the point in Excelsior’s backline. In a surprise twist, Dynasty’s Mercy managed to win a duel against Excelsior’s Roadhog deep into overtime, and Dynasty took the first point. Unfortunately for Dynasty, they didn’t manage to take the second point, leaving the Excelsior two and a half minutes to match.

The Excelsior’s push was far sloppier this time around. They couldn’t seem to figure out how to push past the Dynasty defense, and the clock ticked down all the way to thirty seconds before they’d even attempted a second push. Though the fight was fierce, and Excelsior did an excellent job contesting, keeping overtime going long after it should have been, the Dynasty ultimately kept the Excelsior back, ending the back-and-forth on the scoreboard.

Halftime score: Dynasty 1, Excelsior 1

Disclaimer: I was so enthralled by the back and forth of the Horizon map, I couldn’t focus on writing long enough to give a great play-by-play. There were so many great moments from both teams, trying to write about all of them proved impossible. If you haven’t seen this match, please do. It was amazing.

Round 3: Oasis

The Dynasty had a more confident push before the point unlocked, keeping the Excelsior dancing around near their side’s arch. By the time the point unlocked, Dynasty already had a good perimeter set up, and they took the point with minor contesting.

At the 64% mark, Excelsior managed to secure a couple of picks. Dynasty, in response, panic-mashed the support ultimates, a Sound Barrier and a Valkyrie, but Excelsior was already pushing onto the point. Within just a few seconds, Dynasty had been shredded, and Excelsior had taken the point.

Of course, the point was overturned again when Dynasty attacked the point and refused to let up. Excelsior had not a second to relax, as Dynasty kept up the pace and took the point once Excelsior had 62%.

Dynasty managed to get the point up to 99%, but Excelsior followed in their opponents’ suit and wouldn’t give them even a second to relax. The point was contested for quite some time, until finally, Excelsior managed to take the point back and push it to 99% as well.

Even despite the Dynasty D. Va getting a triple kill with an excellent ultimate, Excelsior managed to keep the Dynasty offense whittled down on health long enough for the rest of their team to come back and finish things off.

For the second round, Excelsior took the point first without much trouble at all. They managed to hold the point until their 39%, but then Dynasty managed to get behind Excelsior’s Orisa shield. With that, they had the point, and they managed to push it about 50%. At one point, Excelsior’s Saebyeoble, playing McCree, tried to Deadeye on Dynasty’s ulting Mercy, but Mercy managed to Guardian Angel right past the deadly DPS ult. The biffed ultimate allowed Dynasty to maintain control of the point, and they ultimately took it altogether.

The final round of Oasis found Excelsior getting five picks right off the bat, allowing them to cap with ease. They held the point until 92%, and though Dynasty managed to steal the point for about thirty seconds, Excelsior’s Saebyeolbe, playing Tracer, managed to get multiple picks and take the point back. This ultimately gave Excelsior the chance to completely cap, and the map altogether.

Round 4: Junkertown

Seoul Dynasty starting Offense

Dynasty started off with one half of the classic Pirate Ship comp, forgoing Bastion for a Widowmaker instead. Dynasty pushed the payload all the way underneath the second bridge, but Excelsior shut them down at the end of the first push.

Dynasty’s second push didn’t look any better, with Excelsior’s Libero on Junkrat sending several well-placed concussion mines into the Dynasty team and blasting their positioning apart. In order to break Excelsior’s hold, Dynasty spun around the point in a figure eight fashion, ducking in and out of the surrounding buildings and overwhelming the Excelsior defense. Excelsior never recovered from the own positioning breakup, and deep into overtime, Dynasty managed to finally push the payload to the first point.

Dynasty did not seem to know how to deal with Excelsior’s Orisa-led defense, with the robot centaur maintaining a strong overwatch on the ledges overlooking the road. With 30 seconds left, Dynasty managed to push onto the payload with a strong showing, with their Winston leaping in on the Excelsior backline and cutting their supports down to size. The payload inched forward as the two teams performed a desperate dance back and forth, keeping the game into overtime. When Fleta killed three of the Excelsior’s members in quick succession, it appeared as though he was going to push the payload all the way by himself. However, Excelsior’s Winston managed to leap on and end him, leaving the payload idling inches from the second point.

Excelsior’s push seemed much more traditional, playing a Bastion and trying to cut the Dynasty shields down. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem as confident, and their push struggled against the Dynasty defense. No matter what they attempted, Excelsior seemed unable to get enough picks to push, and the Dynasty ultimates were plentiful and deadly. As the clock ticked down, Excelsior failed to really figure themselves out, and they were ultimately shut down.

Heading into the Tiebreaker: Dynasty 2, Excelsior 2

As the break commenced, I knew Excelsior was only one point away from one, proving my prediction correct, and two, humbling Dynasty a bit. Hoping my luck from last week would continue, I watched the game with great anticipation.

Round 5: Lijiang Tower

Because of the nature of the Control Point maps, I feel like most of my commentary revolves around, “Team A took the point, and then Team B took the point, and then Team A took the point, and then …” and so on and so forth. I’m going to try something a little different in my recap this time.

Dynasty’s Fleta, playing Soldier, was the real reason why Dynasty won the first point and held on to it for as long as they did. His ults were spot on, his Helix Rockets found many important picks, and he really carried the team even after they lost the point to Excelsior. Of course, even Fleta couldn’t do much when a few key members of Dynasty split off to try to get a few picks by themselves. This independent mindset ultimately cost Dynasty the round.

At this point, it really looked  like the Dynasty were utterly shocked by the raw power the Excelsior was putting forth. They allowed Excelsior to start with the point, and even when Dynasty took the point again, Excelsior’s JJonak and Meko, playing Zen and D. Va really did a great job shredding the Seoul tanks and ultimately picking everybody off. By the time Dynasty tried their final push, Excelsior had three ultimates to their one, and Excelsior ultimately brought the point all the way to 100%.

Final score: Excelsior 3, Dynasty 2

With that, I have another correct prediction under my belt, and now every team in the League has lost at least once. Good work, Excelsior, and especially you, Ark, the cheeky Excelsior spokesperson.

“Of course.”

Oh man, you have to watch this match.

This was probably the best game of the League yet. Good work, all.

And I will see you tomorrow!

[overwatchleaguereport]

Overwatch League LIVE Match Summary - New York Excelsior vs. Boston Uprising

Hey all! I will keep this post constantly updated as the final game of the day plays on. I haven’t tried doing this before, so I’m not even sure if tumblr will let me do live updates, but if it doesn’t, I’ll come up with something else. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, don’t miss the match between the Fuel and the Outlaws! SUPER close game as they enter the final round.

7:21 PM MST - Fuel wins! The analysts are considering why the game went the way it did.

7:26 PM MST - The analysts are kind of contradicting themselves here. They said during the match, especially during Oasis, that Fuel had super creative, oddball team comps and strategies. Meanwhile, the Outlaws played pretty conservative, meta-heavy comps. Then, in the post-match talkback, they said that Houston Outlaws have greater flexibility and have a greater range of gameplay styles. Now, I know that those two statements don’t exactly match up, but they sound very contradictory to me.

7:31 PM MST - I wonder where Soe was last game. A female voice, even an analyst, is vital in this male-dominated game. At the same time, she’s not saying much so far. Give her a chance to speak, guys. Also, it looks like Excelsior will win if the pattern continues on. Every team on the left side of the bracket today has won 3-2.

7:40 PM MST - I have no idea which of the players I just saw belonged to which team thanks to the overly similar color schemes. Oh well. At this point, I’m pretty ignorant regarding the individual players on each team. I’m here for the gameplay, though I imagine that will eventually change.

8:04 PM MST - Apologies for my disappearance; duties at home called. Regardless, I was able to catch a bit of the first round, and Excelsior creamed Uprising on El Dorado. It seems my completely unfounded prediction is coming true thus far.

8:08 PM MST - Sombra’s (Neko) decision to hack the upper left health pack on Anubis confused me a bit. I would have thought the health pack under the floating ship would be a priority, but maybe Uprising wanted more healing rather than denying Excelsior’s healing.

8:11 PM MST - Holy cow, Excelsior is steamrolling Uprising. Uprising managed to hold them off on point B, but Excelsior still has nearly five minutes left to take it.

8:14 PM MST - It is undeniable that Excelsior is heavily outplaying Uprising. Anubis is a notoriously difficult map to assault, and yet Excelsior closed with over two minutes left on the clock. I will be very surprised if Boston can come back with a good answer. 

8:17 PM MST - Dreamkazper, from Uprising, has been doing an excellent job staying on the point. After he dodged a D. Va ult and killed Excelsior’s Mercy, he held the point for nearly a minute, giving his team enough time to take Point A. Uprising still took more time to take Point A than Excelsior did, though.

8:19 PM MST - Uprising has attempted two assaults on Point B and were easily repelled both times. Their coordination is a lot weaker than Excelsior’s by far.

8:20 PM MST - Uprising’s clock just matched Excelsior. Their final assault got them the point, even despite a D. Va ult and a Mei ice wall and block from Excelsior. Despite this, Excelsior still looks like the more coordinated team. Uprising begins Anubis’ third round on assault.

8:23 PM MST - Uprising takes Point A more smoothly even than Excelsior did during the first round of Anubis. Dreamkasper’s Reaper again serves Uprising well.

8:26 PM MST - Uprising does not take point B. Excelsior has the advantage. They have more time, and all they have to do to win is gain 33% of the capture bar. At the same time, Excelsior’s confidence seems to have broken a bit. Their ranks have been breaking a lot more easily following their crushing first round win.

8:27 PM MST - Pine, from Excelsior, was playing Widowmaker. He just got three picks in a row. Uprising’s Tracer, Genji, and Sombra all went down within fifteen seconds of each other. This allows Excelsior to take Point A with little trouble at all.

8:29 PM MST - Excelsior used a D. Va ult to wreck the Uprising defensive. The ult gave them enough time to successfully take the first third of the point and successfully take the victory. Excelsior up, 2-0.

8:31 PM MST - My halftime will be a bit longer because I am grabbing some food. See you soon!

8:46 PM MST - Food is acquired, and we’re back in the fray at Oasis. Saebyeolbe from Excelsior is kicking butt as McCree. Just watched him get three picks within a minute. He died to an unfortunate Pulse Bomb from Uprising’s Striker, and Excelsior’s attack fell apart.

8:47 PM MST - Uprising has taken the first point on Oasis. Their defense was excellent, and Excelsior had a hard time breaking through.

8:49 PM MST - Uprising’s Kellex, playing Lucio, helped his team gain control of the second point with a well-placed boop. Two of Excelsior’s players went over the edge, and they have yet to recover.

8:52 PM MST - Excelsior takes the point, while Uprising has 77% left. Then, when Excelsior gets the point to 33%, Uprising manages to take it back. Excelsior manages to get onto the point to contest at the exact last second, but Boston steamrolls them all the way to 100%. The D. Va play from Uprising was excellent, and helped Uprising gain their first point since the match started.

8:55 PM MST - While we’re in break, I will comment that it is far more difficult to watch the game and type than I initially anticipated. I keep missing vital details that help me understand the overall narrative of the match. I don’t plan on doing live updates for every match I cover, but I may have to come up with a better solution for when I do write live updates. 

8:57 PM MST - Eichenwalde is the last map of the match if Excelsior wins. Otherwise, we’ll be heading into a tiebreaker. Excelsior had the advantage and better play in the beginning, but they seem to be cracking under Uprising’s pressure.

8:59 PM MST - Excelsior’s Pharah, played by Pine, wins the Pharmercy duel by taking out Uprising’s Pharah. However, Excelsior immediately loses three of their own, losing the advantage and forcing a retreat. New York doesn’t take the point until nearly two minutes later.

9:06 PM MST - Coming along the first bend, both teams stay pretty even, trading pick for pick. Regardless, Excelsior manages to push to the bridge, and Uprising manages to shut them down there. Uprising’s team takes to the tower to pin Excelsior down near the spawn, but right before overtime, Excelsior’s D. Va, played by Meko, sneaks onto the payload and forces the entire Uprising team to turn around and come back. This destroys Uprising’s defense, and they can’t do anything until Excelsior takes the payload all the way to the Crusader’s grave.

9:07 PM MST - My stream dies.

9:09 PM MST - Technical difficulties fixed. Dreamkazper takes his Uprising Genji all the way back behind Excelsior’s ranks and waits for an opportunity to jump into a team fight from behind. When Dreamkazper acts, he is shut down by Excelsior’s Winston.

9:11 PM MST - Excelsior is kicking Uprising back to the curb. Boston’s unique attempt to come at the point from multiple directions at once isn’t working. The flankers keep getting cut down.

9:14 PM MST - Uprising actually manages to break the Excelsior defenses. They contest on 66% for some time, with Excelsior’s Winston, played by Mano, using his bubble to stay alive for some time, but Uprising ultimately takes the payload and begins moving it forward.

9:16 PM MST - Excelsior manages to keep the payload beneath the tower bridge, meaning Uprising only has seconds to touch the payload before overtime. At the last second, Uprising’s Winston manages to get on, but despite the team’s best efforts, Excelsior gains their final wind and shuts them down.

Excelsior - 3, Uprising - 1

That was the last game of the second day of the preseason! After the preseason ends, I will probably post my thoughts on a few things. In the meantime, hope you enjoyed the match and live recap.

Cheers, luv!