GamersOrigin gives Misfits a scare while FaZe Clan handle Rogue in week four of Overwatch Contenders

Sep 9, 2017

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Week four is do-or-die time as teams from both regions needed to find wins for a chance to make the playoffs. Let’s take a look at what went down during day two.

Europe

Team Singularity (2-3) vs eUnited (0-4)

Nepal – Singularity

Numbani – Singularity

Volskaya Industries – Singularity

Watchpoint: Gibraltar – Singularity

Team Singularity are coming off of a hot 4-0 victory against Bazooka Puppiez this past Friday, securing their first wins of the season. They went into Saturday’s matchup ready to take down another winless team in eUnited, who still had an opportunity to find a top six finish.

As anticipated, both teams kept it close early on it the set.

A fairly back and forth game on Nepal turned to Singularity’s favor when an extremely long drawn-out fight on Shrine was going in favor of eUnited until Mads “fischer” Jehg unleashed the fury of a Genji Dragonblade to pull it back.

eUnited knew something needed to change before this set got out of hand and Thomas “Morte” Kerbusch’s defensive Torbjorn on Numbani was not the answer. The slow and steady push from Singularity did the job as Christopher “ChrisTFer” Graham’s patience was rewarded, not allowing the Torbjorn to take them by surprise.

It wasn’t long after this that Singularity began to thoroughly dismantle eUntited left and right.

Fischer’s Genji was no match for Harrison “Kruise” Pond, keeping him in check at every turn. Poorly timed ultimates plagued the supports for both teams, not necessarily allowing for the clean team fights you’d like to see, but still proved to be enough for Singularity’s DPS and tank carries to pave the way.

It was becoming more and more evident that success follows ChrisTFer. No matter what team he’s on as of late, he’s finding himself in a carrying position for his team, outmaneuvering anything thrown his way. His experience with fischer from their time with The Chavs/Hammers Esports shows in their ability to read each other's mindset moving into fights.

With such a dominant performance, Singularity still have an opportunity to make the playoffs.

Although they look rejuvenated this weekend, I’m not entirely convinced they’ll be able to beat both Team Gigantti and Cloud9 in the coming weeks. With that in mind, I certainly hope we get the opportunity to watch this roster continue to perform at this level beyond Season One of Overwatch Contenders.

Misfits (4-0) vs GamersOrigin (2-2)

Oasis – Misfits

King’s Row – Misfits

Hanamura – GamersOrigin

Dorado – GamersOrigin

Tiebreaker: Ilios – Misfits

Misfits have been unstoppable over the last three weeks, setting a league best 12-0 record.

GamersOrigin have looked rather impressive themselves, bringing arguably the best Doomfist we’ve seen in the west into their games, despite being shut down by Team Gigantti in week three.

After speaking to Lucas “Leaf” Loison about his Doomfist in the earlier weeks, he believed no one could contest his Doomfist due to their inability to deal with his mobility. Of course, that held true until he met Europe’s most potent DPS duo in Andreas “Logix” Berghmans and Kevyn “TviQ” Lindström. Misfits didn’t hold back whatsoever, abusing the high-ground advantage on Oasis with TviQ’s Pharah versus the Doomfist.

It was clear last week that GamersOrigin didn’t have much in the pipeline outside of Leaf making big plays and it showed once again against Misfits. Knowing this is the true threat and only chance for them to pull out an upset, Misfits brought out the defensive Sombra from Tim “Manneten” Bylund on King’s Row, in hopes that GamersOrigin will lack damage without him being a factor.

I’ve got to give it to GamersOrigin, though. A hard-counter to Leaf didn’t seem to matter as much as you’d think, thanks to Jeremy “Hqrdest” Danton stepping it up a notch, giving his team an opportunity to find a win. Things began to go awry when Logix brought out his true potential, creating opportunities for his team to win outnumbered fights.

Superior Winston play from Johan “CWoosH” Klingestedt in the frontline provided sufficient cover for his team to nearly full-hold Point A of Hanamura.

However, relentless efforts from GamersOrigin are why they are in the running for the playoffs and giving Misfits a good run for their money is expected. In the end it came down to bad engagements from Misfits because they were forced to initiate down a player nearly every fight due to getting picked off by Leaf’s Doomfist.

GamersOrigin found a way into the series on Dorado after a rough start, capturing all three points in overtime. Benjamin “BenBest” Dieulafait’s Reinhardt in the works with Hqrdest’s McCree came alive during their offensive push, allowing them reach an incredible distance with limited time on the clock. After an unfortunate disconnect timing for GamersOrigin’s Ricahrd “PiPou” Buscemi, the reset to his ultimate charge during the second push didn’t seem to matter in their ability to stand their ground and force it to a tiebreaker.

TviQ closed out the series for Misfits largely thanks to his Pharah, a hero that made a major impact early on in the series on Oasis. This loss for GamersOrigin jeopardizes their chance to qualify for the postseason. They’ll need to win at least two of their final three series against Cloud9, eUnited, and 123. As for Misfits, they’ll maintain their position atop the standings, pushing themselves one step closer to a first place finish.

Current Standings

North America

Team EnVyUs (4-0) vs Renegades (0-5)

Lijiang Tower – Team EnVyUs

King’s Row – Team EnVyUs

Hanamura – Team EnVyUs

Dorado – Team EnVyUs

The best against the worst.

Only FaZe Clan have been able to take a map off of Team EnVyUs, a feat that would be near impossible for Renegades unless they found an answer to all problems they’ve endured through the first three weeks.

The story of the season for Renegades has hinged on opening up games looking strong before faltering in every possible way across the board. This would work heavily in their favor on a control point map since they’re best of threes, not allowing a lot of wiggle room for EnVyUs to figure them out.

Timo “Taimou” Kettunen’s Junkrat came to the field on Control Center of Lijiang Tower to power through Douglas “Primodulce” Perks’ Reinhardt shield and provide a significant distraction for the Renegades backline. The early scare for EnVyUs didn’t last long as they managed to take things away from then on out.

A noticeable difference from last week to week four showed for Renegades’ Liam “Mangachu” Campbell who was connecting with multiple EnVyUs players from one Graviton Surge to the next, allowing Christopher “J3sus” Pavloff and Zachary “ZachaREEE” Lombardo to follow through. Outstanding ultimate management from this team was yet to be seen in Season One and it’s rather unfortunate that this finally began so late into the season.

A good showing from Renegades was overshadowed by Taimou’s Widowmaker from one map to the next. Had Renegades played any other team this week, it would have been a close set, but being that EnVyUs are leagues above anyone else, it certainly was a tall order.

Renegades continued with their strength on Hanamura, putting forth a valiant effort with one of the best stalls we’ve seen this season, but even their Orisa and Torbjorn defense wasn’t enough to seize the map from EnVyUs.

All in all, it’s a shame it took Renegades this long to get to this level of play. Their series versus EnVyUs was enjoyable even though they lost 0-4, since they managed to keep it close throughout. They’re now officially out of the playoff race with EnVyUs maintaining control of first place.

FaZe Clan (4-1) vs Rogue (2-3)

Nepal – FaZe Clan

Numbani – FaZe Clan

Volskaya Industries – FaZe Clan & Rogue (tie)

Watchpoint: Gibraltar – FaZe Clan

It’s no secret that Rogue has been the biggest letdown of the season for North America.

Yet sitting at a 2-2 record they still had a chance to redeem themselves against FaZe Clan, a top contender for second place.

For FaZe it was a clinic for both Lee “Carpe” Jae-Hyeok and George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha, with the Tracer and Genji duo lighting up the kill feed. Dylan “aKm” Bignet’s Soldier: 76 for Rogue had its moments early on, but since FaZe has a well-practiced D.va in Alexandre “SPREE” Vanhomwegen, it proved to be tough to find a solid line of sight.

It wasn’t until Rogue found a way to enable aKm that we saw some distance get covered on Numbani. Things started out rough, though, as there was no available entry for the dive composition due to Carpe being a constant threat in the backline.

As anticipated, Rogue stepped up to the plate on Volskaya Industries.

A stout defense from both teams on Point B proved to be difficult, not giving much time to either side for a second attempt. ShaDowBurn’s Doomfist seemed to be the answer for securing a third point on the board, but Rogue managed to answer back with one of their own to tie the map, ultimately giving FaZe the series win.

With FaZe’s fourth win on the season, they’ve continued to separate themselves from the middle of the pack as a true contender for the title. On the other hand, Rogue’s defeat doesn’t put them out of the playoff question, but they’re still yet to face both Kungarna and EnVyUs in the final two weeks.