Team Gigantti take down the undefeated 123 & Singularity get their first win to start week four of the Overwatch Contenders

Sep 8, 2017

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Week four of the Overwatch Contenders features some additional European action, as they play host to weeks four and six for their extra Friday matches. This week was sure to be a great one as things started off with two of Europe’s top contenders in 123 and Team Gigantti.

Europe

123 (3-1) vs Team Gigantti 3-1)

Nepal – Gigantti

Eichenwalde – Gigantti

Hanamura – 123

Dorado – Gigantti

Surely a defining moment for the regular season, 123 had their toughest challenge yet in Team Gigantti to get week four underway. Unfortunately for them they wouldn’t have their flex support Jakob “bock1” Kleveland, who was temporarily replaced by Kha “iPN” Nguyen.

Things got off to a rough start for 123 as a disoriented team couldn’t figure out how to move into a team fight as a collective unit. It didn’t take long for 123’s Simon “snillo” Ekström long to step it up to the level of play we’ve seen from him all season, but it proved very difficult for him to find opportunities to play aggressively as he was too busy peeling for iPN’s Zenyatta.

Gigantti pressed their advantage from map to map, keeping 123 on their toes on Eichenwalde.

Getting past the brick wall of a defense from Gigantti is no easy feat, but consistent pick-off kills gave 123 limited time to work with. As their go-to player, snillo has always shown up when it matters, helping his team pull through to secure nearly two checkpoints, but even that wasn’t enough to grab the hybrid map.

Quite often the turning point for teams is an assault map, being that the opportunity to snowball is much larger from point to point. For 123 it was none other than snillo who, if there were an award for it, would be at the top for player of the season. His ability to consistently keep himself alive in fights that are seemingly lost is unreal. Not to mention he won multiple duels with Gigantti’s Tuomo “Davin” Leppänen who couldn’t get any additional help to deal with him.

An opportunity for 123 to push it to a game five would be as close as you would expect.

Gigantti’s defense held strong just shy of the third checkpoint on Dorado, not allowing 123 to grab full map completion. The turning point of the match was in the hands of Gigantti’s Davin and Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin who came through when it mattered. With this win Gigantti have cemented themselves as one of the best in Europe and have a clear path to a top two seed for the playoffs. As for 123, their three wins are over the worst three teams in the league. That being said, they will still need to win over Misfits, Cloud9, or GamersOrigin if they want a spot come October.

Team Singularity (1-3) vs Bazooka Puppiez (0-4)

Oasis – Singularity

King’s Row – Singularity

Hanamura – Singularity

Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Singularity

Team Singularity came into this match as the only team in the Overwatch Contenders without a map win.

After a total makeover of the roster last week, they still went 0-4 against a tough Misfits team. This week they made yet another change with the addition of Jonas “Mrbeck” Beck to see if they can put a point on the board.

Mario “PoPiFresH” Gonzalez got the best of Bazooka Puppiez early on in the set, taking advantage of their new Tracer player Hugo “Sharp” Sahlberg. Their first map win was a decisive one, winning both of the rounds 100-0, giving no way for the Bazooka Puppiez to find some room to work with.

This match was about as heart-wrenching as an Overwatch match could get,

with one ultimate after another giving you hope of what it could have meant for a team fight but ended up failing. Bazooka Puppiez’ Toni “Ube” Häkli showcased his Hanzo in conjunction with Metehan “Mete” Aksüt’s Zarya on offense, but they were never on the same page, something that is crucial to make the combination work.

It wasn’t until Ube brought out his Genji that significant ground was gained, setting a slightly quicker pace than Singularity on King’s Row. A second attempt for both teams heavily favored Singularity once again, as it was who Ube went back to a Hanzo that continued to struggle, just as it had during the first offensive round. The pick itself relies on finding an opening kill which he had troubles with due to Singularity’s Christopher “ChrisTFer” Graham’s Reinhardt providing sufficient cover.

With momentum in their favor and on the verge of a series win,

Singularity punched out the Doomfirst for their Hanamura defense, which proved to play a significant role throughout this match. Despite a strong offensive start for the Bazooka Puppiez, push after push continued to favor Singularity as they had victory in their sights for the first time all season.

While this series was all Singularity, let’s take a closer look at what it means for them for the remainder of the season.

Finishing inside of the top six is doable with their final three games being against eUnited, Gigantti, and Cloud9. While this will certainly be their aim, I think this team could play spoiler to one of the latter two who will be making a push for the playoffs in the coming weeks.

Current Standings